Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said a power-sharing agreement Monday night between Republicans and Democrats in the upper chamber can go forward after two Democrats announced their opposition to ending the legislative filibuster.
The agreement would enable the Senate, split 50-50 between the parties, to organize and allow Democrats to begin to take control of key committees. While Democrats will control the floor and run committees, their control is relatively vague because of the equal number of Republican and Democratic senators.
“Today two Democratic senators publicly confirmed they will not vote to end the legislative filibuster. They agree with President Biden’s and my view that no Senate majority should destroy the right of future minorities of both parties to help shape legislation,” McConnell said in a statement.
“The legislative filibuster was a key part of the foundation beneath the Senate’s last 50-50 power-sharing agreement in 2001,” he added. “With these assurances, I look forward to moving ahead with a power-sharing agreement modeled on that precedent.”
His statement came after Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona reiterated their opposition to changing the legislative filibuster rules.
The agreement was delayed for several days after McConnell wanted assurances from Democratic leadership the filibuster, a Senate provision that mandates 60 votes are needed to halt debate on legislation in the chamber and often used as a delay tactic, would not be eliminated.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, however, told reporters Democrats would not allow McConnell to dictate the terms of the power-sharing agreement, adding that the Senate should be guided under the same protocols that governed the 2001 Senate, when the body last was at a 50-50 split.
