Tag Archives: filibuster
Biden Unlikes Filibuster Relic of Jim Crow Era
President Biden has unliked the filibuster. He now thinks it’s a relic of the Jim Crow past.
However, he used to think the filibuster was a relic of “fair play.” He said so in a speech on the Senate floor in 2005. Senator Ben Sasse read Biden’s speech aloud on Wednesday night. But if you’d like to hear it from the crow’s mouth here’s Senator Biden himself.
By the way, Jim Crow is “Jim Eagle” compared to the Georgia voting law passed last week.
Scorched Earth Response to Filibuster Nuclear Option
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell gave a “scorched earth” speech last week. Democrats have been threatening to end the filibuster which requires 60 votes to pass legislation. But McConnell said if they do that they’ll turn the Senate into a “100 car pile-up.” And nothing will get done:
Let me say this very clearly for all 99 of my colleagues: Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin — can even begin to imagine — what a completely scorched earth Senate would look like.
Mitch McConnell on the U.S. Senate floor
Senate rules require the consent of all its members to conduct business. So Republicans could easily grind the place to a halt. For example they could withhold consent to minor votes without quorum calls.
Harry Reid invoked the “nuclear option” in 2013 to kill the filibuster for approving most presidential appointments. But when the worm turned McConnell added Supreme Court nominees to Reid’s list and Trump landed three new justices.
Stand with Rand
Rand Paul’s filibuster over all the president’s drones was a huge hash tag hit on Twitter. While Senator Paul talked himself blue in the face (with the help of Ted Cruz, MikeLee, Marco Rubio and others), old guard red state Republicans dined with the president. They were not happy with the kids’ behavior while they were out.
Presser
The president’s press conference ran about an hour today. It seemed like each answer ran that long. The thrust was 1.) the Republicans better do their job and raise taxes and 2.) Malia and Sasha are more responsible than Congress. Number 2 I agree with.
