Dec 23, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Biden doubles down on filibuster rule change to pass voting rights

President Biden is willing to support "whatever it takes," including working around the Senate's filibuster rule, in the name of passing voting legislation. He has shifted his position on the filibuster in recent months.

Driving the news: "If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting it passed is the filibuster, I support making an exception on voting rights for the filibuster," Biden said during an interview with ABC News on Wednesday night.

Why it matters: Democratic calls to pass federal voting legislation have strengthened recently.

  • In a letter to his colleagues this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Senate will consider voting rights legislation in January, and that the chamber would consider "changes to any rules" which stand in the way.
  • Martin Luther King III has said there should be no celebration of MLK Day next month without the legislation.

Catch up quick: The House passed voting rights and election reform bills, but the legislation has been stuck in the Senate for months, Axios' Alexi McCammond writes.

Yes, but: Not all Senate Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have backed the strategy.

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