Joe Biden changed course on his position regarding the Senate filibuster, opening the door to ending the practice and allowing major left-wing legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority after previously opposing getting rid of it.
The former vice president and longtime senator was asked about getting rid of the filibuster in a Monday interview with several journalists, specifically concerning whether he could enact the “most progressive agenda since FDR,” as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders described Biden’s platform recently, without reforming the Senate tool.
“It’s going to depend on how obstreperous they become,” Biden said, referring to Republicans. He said that while he was previously optimistic about being able to work with Republicans, “I think you’re going to just have to take a look at it.”
The filibuster, which prevents Senate debate on legislation from ending and moving to a vote without approval from 60 out of 100 senators, is seen as a major impediment to far-left activists. They worry that if Democrats win the majority in the Senate but garner fewer than 60 seats, their policy goals will not become law.
Biden firmly opposed abolishing the filibuster in a January interview with the New York Times editorial board that was released just before Democratic primary voters and caucusgoers started casting ballots for their presidential picks.
“There are a number of areas where you can reach consensus that relate to things like cancer and healthcare and a whole range of things. I think we can reach consensus on that and get it passed without changing the filibuster rule,” Biden said at the time.
Democratic primary candidates were divided on whether to end the filibuster. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg both supported getting rid of it, and Sanders was open to it.
Biden ran his Democratic primary campaign closer to the center ideologically and opposed many policies championed by leftist firebrands Warren and Sanders. But as he has taken on his role as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Biden has adopted some of their policy positions, such as a proposal to make all public higher education free for those with annual family incomes less than $125,000 and a Warren proposal to reform the bankruptcy system.
