As the elections in November get closer and closer, former vice president Joe Biden continues to unveil his policies and plans should the upcoming term be a Biden administration. One of his potential plans would be to possibly end the filibuster in the Senate.
Politico reports the former vice president spoke to the press on Monday and said he hopes to be able to make a difference in several issues that are present in the United States. Biden noted that he is willing to consider measures or practices that would allow legislation to pass through the Senate with only a simple majority vote. The presumptive Democratic nominee also pointed out that even though he previously showed support for the filibuster with the same hope for bipartisanship, it would be the defiance from the Republican Senators that could influence his decision.
“It’s going to depend on how obstreperous they become. But I think you’re going to just have to take a look at it,” said Biden.
A filibuster is referring to the efforts of Senators to block legislation through what would be an endless debate. By blocking legislation, they would be obstructing a vote. The current rules in the Senate require 60 votes to invoke cloture, effectively ending the debate and bring the legislation to a vote.
What may be surprising is that even Donald Trump is also looking to end the filibuster rule in the Senate. Trump has previously tweeted his approval to end the Senate filibuster back in 2017. But despite Trump’s approval, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has strongly opposed.
Aside from unveiling the policies and plans he would implement under his potential presidency, Biden is also currently searching for his running mate. Among those women often predicted by many to be in the running to become the vice-presidential pick, Illinois Senator and veteran Tammy Duckworth have caught the attention of the campaign. Most famously, Duckworth’s clash with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson about politicizing the military brought the Biden campaign’s vetting team to look into her qualifications.
Many donors and veteran PACS in support of Duckworth have doubled down on their efforts to lobby the Purple Heart recipient’s name to the team in charge of vetting potential candidates.