President Joe Biden says he could support scrapping the Senate’s rules that protect the minority party’s rights to block controversial legislation if Republicans thwart his agenda on Capitol Hill.
“If we have to, if there’s complete lockdown and chaos as a consequence of the filibuster, then we’ll have to go beyond what I’m talking about,” he said Thursday.
SIGNS OF DISSENSION IN DEMOCRATIC RANKS COULD COMPLICATE BIDEN AGENDA
At the moment, 60 votes are required for legislation to pass the Senate. Democrats control the chamber with 51 votes due to Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden said during his first solo press conference at the White House that the current filibuster framework was “being abused in a gigantic way.”
Biden was against reforming Senate procedure during the campaign, but he has since signaled he would back changing the process to permit only a “talking filibuster” if congressional Republicans stymie his party’s proposals. The “talking filibuster” would allow senators to challenge a bill by delaying its progress through the chamber.
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Earlier in his remarks, Biden announced he was increasing his COVID-19 vaccination target to 200 million shots within his first 100 days in office.
