In President Biden’s first press conference since entering the White House, he avoided giving a solid answer on his opposition or support for the filibuster. Democrats hope to remove the measure, a 60-vote requirement for legislation, in order to quickly pass Biden’s agenda.
President Biden, who was once a staunch backer of the filibuster, would not give a firm answer on the issue of the filibuster. The president stated that he supports “filibuster reform” but would not say whether the 60-vote requirement should stay intact.
“Our preoccupation with the filibuster is totally legitimate, but in the meantime we got a lot we can do while we’re talking about what we’re going to do about the filibuster,” Biden says https://t.co/HnGhfLJGhf pic.twitter.com/aPx0IbNQwx
— Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) March 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/chrisjdmartin/status/1375142247080079362
Biden refuses to say whether he thinks a legislative filibuster should be defeated with 51 votes or 60 votes. Instead says he's not an expert in parliamentary rules
— Gabby Orr (@GabbyOrr_) March 25, 2021
The president also aligned himself with Obama’s opinion that the filibuster is a “Jim Crow relic.”
CNN's @kaitlancollins: "President Barack Obama said he believed the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Do you agree?
President Biden: "Yes."
Collins: "If not, why not abolish it if it's a relic of the Jim Crow era?"
Biden: *long pause* pic.twitter.com/33V3x1r3nq
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 25, 2021
Biden went on to say the filibuster has been “abused” in the past year, when Democrats were the minority party and used the filibuster to destroy GOP legislation.
Biden says filibuster has been "abused in a gigantic way" and he supports bringing back talking filibusters to reduce its use for blocking legislation
"I have never been particularly poor at calculating how to get things done in the United States Senate" https://t.co/En0Jq7Xzd0 pic.twitter.com/KoKdLQroKv
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 25, 2021
WOW Biden just BLASTED @chuckschumer and Senate Democrats for abusing the filibuster last year.
Compares when he first got to the Senate 50+ years ago, to the number of Democrat filibusters last year and says it's clearly being abused.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 25, 2021
President Biden’s argument for a Democrat majority to break Senate rules is that… a Democrat minority abused them last year? pic.twitter.com/vpAvPgw5h2
— Senate Republican Communications Center (@SRCC) March 25, 2021
"At its core, the filibuster is not about stopping a nominee or a bill—it's about compromise and moderation.”
– Sen. Joe Biden, 2005, passionately defending keeping the same filibuster he just called a “Jim Crow relic”
— Ben Williamson (@_WilliamsonBen) March 25, 2021
During his past time in congress, Joe Biden defended the filibuster to support “moderation and compromise.”
Author: Steven Sinclaire
