Joe Biden Open To Eliminating Filibuster: Move To Ensure Voting Rights Bill And More

Joe Biden
Joe Biden

President Joe Biden has given strong hint that the government is willing to bring to a halt Republican intransigence on every issue by whittling down the filibuster in the Senate. This will give the administration the freedom to move ahead with multiple reforms to, the voting rights, the debt ceiling, and other issues.

Joe Biden was expressing his frustration at the repeated misuse of the filibuster by the Republicans. A day earlier, Senate Republicans had blocked legislation that was meant to protect access for all citizens to voting.

The filibuster successfully gives the conservative minority a sway over vast areas of policy. They have used it in a negative sense and had blocked every move by Joe Biden.

Joe Biden stressed that the government was at a point where they were considering altering and even ending the filibuster.

When questioned about the possibility that the filibuster would be stopped on issues other than voting rights only, Joe Biden replied that they were considering other areas as well.

Joe Biden Government Being Halted Constantly By Republican Use Of Filibuster

The Democrats had a 51-50 advantage in the Senate thanks to the deciding vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. But the Senate set-up locks in the rule of the minority as it allows a mere 41 senators out of the total 100 to stop legislation.

The Democratic itinerary has been thwarted in vital areas by the repeated Republican use of the filibuster. It requires Democrats to garner 60 votes to push through legislation.

The filibuster was again applied by Republicans to thwart the Freedom to Vote Act, leading to an outburst by Biden. The Republicans were led by Mitch McConnell.

But Democrats Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin have both indicated their opposition to any move to limit the filibuster. That development effectively stymies any Democratic move initiated by Joe Biden to push through the change.