Biden agrees that filibuster is ‘a relic of the Jim Crow era’
Pressed on why he hadn’t moved to end the filibuster if that’s the case, the President maintained, “Successful electoral politics is the art of the possible.”
“Let’s figure out how we can get this done and move in the direction of significantly changing the abuse of even the filibuster rule first,” Biden said. “It’s been abused from the time it came into being, by an extreme way in the last 20 years. Let’s deal with the abuse first.”
When Collins noted it sounded like he was moving closer to supporting eliminating the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to end debate on legislation, he responded, “I answered your question.”
The filibuster is a procedural tool that can be used by senators to delay or block a vote on legislation or an appointment. It can be employed to keep a debate going without interruption indefinitely.
Democrats have passed several key bills in the House recently, including voting rights and police reform, but getting legislation through the 50-50 Senate, where some bills require 60 votes to pass, has been an obstacle for them.
“Basically the Senate is made to work differently,” the West Virginian said, arguing that the chamber is meant to be deliberative to allow senators a chance to find consensus. “This was designed to be something different.”
Earlier in the news conference, Biden said the filibuster was being “abused in a gigantic way” and suggested he “strongly” supports moving back to the original process of the filibuster, which would require a senator who wants to block legislation to hold the floor without taking a break.
He had told ABC News earlier this month, “I don’t think that you have to eliminate the filibuster, you have to do it what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days.”
Still, Biden said Thursday that he has an “open mind” about using the filibuster for certain topics, including voting rights, a key legislative priority for him that does not currently have the votes to pass.
This story has been updated with background information and further details.
CNN’s Manu Raju contributed to this report.
