How the Senate Filibuster Will Force Trump to Negotiate With Democrats
1 month, 1 week ago

How the Senate Filibuster Will Force Trump to Negotiate With Democrats

Bloomberg  

With President-elect Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans winning control of the White House plus both chambers of Congress in the Nov. 5 election, the Democrats will have one important tool for checking the power of the majority party: the filibuster. That’s the prerogative enjoyed by the minority party in the Senate to demand never-ending debate to thwart legislation, which must be approved by both that body and the House of Representatives. Almost all bills are doomed unless supported by the three-fifths supermajority required to end a filibuster. The minority party can also use the filibuster to slow, though not stop, the confirmation of nominees to more than 1,000 positions the president can fill only with Senate approval, including cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, federal judges and ambassadors.

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History of this topic

Democrats win final seat in US House, cutting into Republican majority
2 weeks, 6 days ago

Democrats win final seat in US House, cutting into Republican majority

Al Jazeera  

Republicans hold a 220-215 majority in House of Representatives but will have to deal with three early vacancies. Washington, DC – Democrats have won the last race to be called in the United States House of Representatives, leaving their Republican rivals with a razor-thin majority in the chamber after the November 5 elections. The Republicans’ narrow edge in the chamber …

Mitch McConnell On Republican Senate Control: 'The Filibuster Will Stand'
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Mitch McConnell On Republican Senate Control: 'The Filibuster Will Stand'

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING WASHINGTON – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that the Senate’s supermajority threshold for passing legislation will be safe with Republicans controlling the chamber — even if President-elect Donald Trump pushes to kill the filibuster. McConnell is stepping down as leader, but his comments Wednesday signaled Senate Republicans will likely defend the filibuster even if Trump …

EXPLAINER: Why is filibuster such a barrier to voting bill?
2 years, 11 months ago

EXPLAINER: Why is filibuster such a barrier to voting bill?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — For the fifth time in recent months, Senate Republicans are expected to block Democrats’ sweeping voting legislation this week using a longstanding delaying tactic that can stop a bill in its tracks. Democrats say the GOP’s current embrace of the tactic to block progress on their voting rights bill echoes that era. It had become clear that backers …

Why do Biden and the Democrats want to kill the filibuster?
2 years, 11 months ago

Why do Biden and the Democrats want to kill the filibuster?

Daily Mail  

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the U.S. Senate should consider scrapping a longstanding supermajority rule known as the 'filibuster' if necessary to pass voting-rights legislation that is opposed by Republicans. Democrats control 50 seats in the Senate, which allows them to eke together a majority with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking 51st vote when needed. Democrats were …

Mitch McConnell makes a mockery of Sinema and Manchin's defense of the filibuster
3 years, 2 months ago

Mitch McConnell makes a mockery of Sinema and Manchin's defense of the filibuster

Raw Story  

Senator Mitch McConnell and his wife exit the U.S. Capitol at the conclusion of the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2021. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seems to be almost intentionally making a mockery of the small number of Democratic senators who continue to defend the filibuster. But McConnell has taken the firm …

Biden: Senate filibuster change on debt a ‘real possibility’
3 years, 2 months ago

Biden: Senate filibuster change on debt a ‘real possibility’

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — To get around Republican obstruction, President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Democrats are considering a change to the Senate’s filibuster rules in order to quickly approve lifting the nation’s debt limit and avoid what would be a devastating credit default. The topic was broached during a private Democratic Senate lunch session Tuesday as senators were growing exasperated with …

Election bill defeat revives fight over the filibuster
3 years, 5 months ago

Election bill defeat revives fight over the filibuster

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The filibuster is here to stay, for now. And that’s posing a challenge to President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress confronting a wall of Republican opposition led by Senate leader Mitch McConnell’s “100%” focus on stopping their agenda. “Now you see what a filibuster does to a Democratic agenda.” The downfall of the elections bill offers an …

GOP filibuster blocks Democrats’ big voting rights bill
3 years, 6 months ago

GOP filibuster blocks Democrats’ big voting rights bill

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Democrats’ sweeping attempt to rewrite U.S. election and voting law suffered a major setback in the Senate Tuesday, blocked by a filibuster wall of Republican opposition to what would be the largest overhaul of the electoral system in a generation. The vote leaves the Democrats with no clear path forward, though President Joe Biden declared, “This fight …

White House Says Democrats Might Revisit Filibuster Rules If Voting Rights Bill Fails
3 years, 6 months ago

White House Says Democrats Might Revisit Filibuster Rules If Voting Rights Bill Fails

NPR  

White House Says Democrats Might Revisit Filibuster Rules If Voting Rights Bill Fails Enlarge this image toggle caption Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images The White House on Monday opened the door to revisiting the filibuster — a hotly contested issue across political lines — setting the stage for a bitter congressional fight to do away with the controversial debate …

Moderate Democrats Flex Their Power In The Senate, Making Progressives Impatient
3 years, 6 months ago

Moderate Democrats Flex Their Power In The Senate, Making Progressives Impatient

NPR  

Moderate Democrats Flex Their Power In The Senate, Making Progressives Impatient Enlarge this image toggle caption Samuel Corum/Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images Samuel Corum/Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images Democrats who hoped that narrow control in Washington, D.C., would lead to a rush of votes to approve new progressive policies are facing a major roadblock — moderates in their own party. …

Mitch McConnell's big bluff: Here's the real reason he wants to keep the filibuster so badly
3 years, 6 months ago

Mitch McConnell's big bluff: Here's the real reason he wants to keep the filibuster so badly

Raw Story  

Last week, United States Senator Kyrsten Sinema expressed ongoing support for the filibuster, arguing that "it is a tool that protects the democracy of our nation" and prevents our country from " wildly every two to four years back and forth between policies." Consider this question: why didn't Mitch McConnell nuke the legislative filibuster during the first two years of …

EXPLAINER: What’s the Senate filibuster and why change it?
3 years, 6 months ago

EXPLAINER: What’s the Senate filibuster and why change it?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Minority Republicans used a Senate filibuster to block a Democratic bill that would have launched a bipartisan probe of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Yet the Republican victory Friday may prod Democrats closer to curbing or eliminating a legislative maneuver that’s been the bane of Senate majorities since the Founding Fathers. They’ve pressured Senate Majority Leader …

EXPLAINER: What’s the Senate filibuster and why change it?
3 years, 6 months ago

EXPLAINER: What’s the Senate filibuster and why change it?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Minority Republicans used a Senate filibuster Friday to block a Democratic bill that would have launched a bipartisan probe of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. They’ve pressured Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to eliminate filibusters, even as their use has increased by whichever party is in the minority. GOP support for retaining them is solid, …

EXPLAINER: What’s the Senate filibuster and why change it?
3 years, 6 months ago

EXPLAINER: What’s the Senate filibuster and why change it?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are poised to use a filibuster to derail Democrats’ effort to launch a bipartisan probe of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Yet while the GOP seemed certain to succeed Thursday, their victory may prod Democrats closer to curbing or eliminating a legislative tactic that’s been the bane of Senate majorities since the Founding Fathers. …

In victory for Donald Trump, Republicans block probe of US Capitol riot
3 years, 6 months ago

In victory for Donald Trump, Republicans block probe of US Capitol riot

India Today  

Republicans in the US Senate on Friday derailed a bipartisan inquiry into the deadly assault on the Capitol by former President Donald Trump's supporters, despite a torrent of criticism the lawmakers were playing down the violence. Democrats and some moderate Republicans had called for a commission to probe the events up to and including January 6, when hundreds of supporters …

Senate To Vote On Election Reform Next Month, Setting Up Another Filibuster Fight
3 years, 6 months ago

Senate To Vote On Election Reform Next Month, Setting Up Another Filibuster Fight

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Just after Senate Republicans filibustered plans for a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced the chamber will take up another contentious matter next month: sweeping voting and elections reform. He called the bill “essential to defending our democracy, reducing the influence of dark money and powerful special …

Democrats move 2 bills showing strength and limits of power
3 years, 8 months ago

Democrats move 2 bills showing strength and limits of power

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Democrats were on a roll. That gives Republicans tremendous power over much of Biden’s and Democrats’ agenda, and it’s fueling frustration among progressives who want senators to abolish the filibuster rule. “Not just everything we love, but everything we need.” It would take all 50 Democratic senators — plus Harris — to abolish or curtail the filibuster, over …

Senate filibuster’s racist past fuels arguments for its end
3 years, 8 months ago

Senate filibuster’s racist past fuels arguments for its end

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Once obscure, the Senate filibuster is coming under fresh scrutiny not only because of the enormous power it gives a single senator to halt President Joe Biden’s agenda, but as a tool historically used for racism. In a letter Friday, nearly 150 groups called on the Senate to eliminate the filibuster, saying the matter takes on fresh urgency …

The filibuster could derail Joe Biden's agenda. The Democrats could go 'nuclear' to stop it
3 years, 8 months ago

The filibuster could derail Joe Biden's agenda. The Democrats could go 'nuclear' to stop it

ABC  

You've all seen how the musical ends. Loading YouTube content Today, senators don't even have to keep talking A 1917 tweak in the filibuster rule mandated that three-fifths of senators must pass a "writ of cloture" to stop debate and start a vote. Both parties hate the filibuster — when they’re in the majority Then-president Donald Trump raged when Democrats …

Biden wants a ‘talking filibuster.’ What that could mean for taxes and more
3 years, 9 months ago

Biden wants a ‘talking filibuster.’ What that could mean for taxes and more

LA Times  

President Biden visits Smith Flooring Inc. in Chester, Pa., on Tuesday. Ever since President Biden took office, he’s faced pressure from progressives to target the filibuster, a Senate rule that allows one party to block legislation even when it doesn’t have the majority. “I don’t think that you have to eliminate the filibuster, you have to do it what it …

Essential Politics: Limit filibusters or accept defeat? Democrats are inching toward a stark choice
3 years, 9 months ago

Essential Politics: Limit filibusters or accept defeat? Democrats are inching toward a stark choice

LA Times  

This is the Feb. 26, 2021, edition of the Essential Politics newsletter. A measure to cut child poverty nearly in half, another to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, a third to end job discrimination against gay men and lesbians — Democrats have a far-reaching legislative agenda, but already, the threat of Senate filibusters has constrained their choices. …

Senate confirms Biden 1st Cabinet pick as Democrats control
3 years, 11 months ago

Senate confirms Biden 1st Cabinet pick as Democrats control

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Three new senators were sworn into office after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, securing the majority for Democrats in the Senate and across a unified government to tackle the new president’s agenda at a time of unprecedented national challenges. “That’s what they sent us here to do.” Taken together, their arrival gives Democrats for the first time in a …

Mitch McConnell Wants Democrats To Commit To Keeping Legislative Filibuster
3 years, 11 months ago

Mitch McConnell Wants Democrats To Commit To Keeping Legislative Filibuster

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell wants assurances from Democrats that they will preserve the powerful legislative filibuster once they assume control of the chamber on Wednesday ― a commitment that so far he is not getting. With the filibuster in place, however, passing many of the main components of Biden’s legislative agenda means he will need the …

McConnell pressures Democrats to keep Senate filibuster
3 years, 11 months ago

McConnell pressures Democrats to keep Senate filibuster

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — In one of his final acts as majority leader, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is pressuring Democrats to keep the filibuster — the procedural tool that liberals and progressives are eager to to do away with so President-elect Joe Biden’s legislative priorities can be approved more easily over GOP opposition. McConnell has told Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer …

Democratic-led Senate OKs first Biden nominee. But advancing the president’s agenda will be a struggle
3 years, 11 months ago

Democratic-led Senate OKs first Biden nominee. But advancing the president’s agenda will be a struggle

LA Times  

With the swearing-in of three new senators Wednesday, Democrats have more muscle in Washington than they have had in a decade, controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress. “We just passed a program with over $900 billion in it,” Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said Wednesday when asked about Biden’s plans for more economic stimulus. Whether it’s Kentucky …

Trump vows quick court vote, Biden urges delay for Nov. 3
4 years, 2 months ago

Trump vows quick court vote, Biden urges delay for Nov. 3

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Sunday that confirmation of his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett will go “quickly” but his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, implored the Republican-led Senate to hold off on voting on her nomination until after the Nov. 3 election to “let the people decide.” Speaking at a press conference at the White House, the president …

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