Pres. Biden Supports Procedural Reform by Reviving Talking Filibuster

Pres. Biden Supports Procedural Reform by Reviving Talking Filibuster

President Biden has clarified he supports reforming the Senate filibuster rule by reviving the “talking filibuster” over eliminating the rule altogether. In the past weeks, the White House has only been announcing that President Biden is not amenable to removing the filibuster rule but without mentioning that he supports the modification of the procedure.

The President made the clarification last Tuesday in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, which could prod more actions from reform supporters. The group advocating for filibuster elimination has been insisting that as a legislative procedure, the filibuster will only impede support for the Biden administration’s agenda.

What is the U.S. Senate Filibuster Rule?

The filibuster rule is a Senate procedure that requires garnering of 60 votes, as a condition for passing a legislation As the upper house is divided 50:50 between Democrats and Republicans, Democrats need 10 Republicans to side with them when seeking to conclude a debate and to approve legislation of a proposed bill,

What is the Talking Filibuster?

According to President Biden, it is not necessary to completely eradicate the filibuster. Senators can go about the procedure the way it was done in the olden days, in which Senators had to keep talking in order to continue discussions on the Senate floor.

The President referred to it as the talking filibuster, where Senators need to speak out on the Senate floor in order to challenge a legislation that is being passed for approval.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky) spoke against modifying the legislative filibuster. He said that the modification would only make the Senate house look like a hundred-car pile-up where nothing is moving instead of functioning as an express lane for the Biden administration.

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