- Biden to push Senate rule change in bid to pass voting-rights law
- The president will address the issue in a speech in Atlanta on Tuesday
- Jen Psaki said Biden would bring up the idea of changing Senate rules
- At present, 60 senators must back most legislation for it to pass
- Psaki said the president was open to changing filibuster rules
Sen. Joe Manchin, a regular thorn in President Biden’s legislative agenda, urged caution in shaking up Senate rules on Monday, suggesting he has not dropped his opposition to ditching the filibuster.
Democrats have been trying to win over the West Virginia senator as part of a push to change the rules to pass voting rights legislation.
But Manchin, whose opposition doomed Biden’s massive Build Back Better spending plans, signaled he remained opposed.
He told Congressional reporters that the filibuster was ‘the tradition of the Senate here in 232 years now … ‘
‘We need to be very cautious what we do.
‘I’m hoping that we can come to an agreement to fix things. Every American has the right to vote and should be protected.’
According to Chad Pergram of Fox News, he also said: ‘That’s what we’ve always had for 232 years. That’s what makes us different than any place else in the world.’
President Biden is expected to raise the issue of changing Senate rules on Tuesday, when he travels to Atlanta, Georgia, to deliver a speech on voting rights.