The week
Biden endorses changing Senate rules to demand ‘talking obstruction’, like ‘in the old days’
President Biden for the first time on Tuesday publicly endorsed the change to the Senate’s obstruction rules, so if a senator wanted to block a bill, he or she would have to earn it. ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos addressed the issue in an interview released Tuesday night, asking Biden if he “will have to choose between preserving the obstruction and moving his agenda forward”. Biden said yes, but “I don’t think you have to remove the obstruction – you have to do what it used to be when I arrived in the Senate, in the old days”, when “you had to get up and command the ground, you had to keep talking “and” work for the obstructionist “. Stephanopoulos did the follow-up to make sure that Biden “would bring back the talking obstructionist”, and Biden said yes. “This is what it should be,” he said. “It’s getting to the point where, you know, democracy is having a hard time working.” EXCLUSIVE: @GStephanopoulos: “Are you about to bring back the talking obstructionist?” Pres. Biden: “I am. This is what it should be … Democracy is struggling to function.” https://t.co/yOAySBh8dz pic.twitter.com/M59cysphgc – ABC News (@ABC) March 17, 2021 Senate Democrats, who narrowly lead the 50-50 chamber, would need each member of their caucus change the obstruction rules, and several moderate Democrats – including Senator Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), in addition to Biden – are opposed to removing the obstruction altogether. But Manchin and other Democrats, most recently Whip Dick Durbin of the Senate majority (D-Ill.), Have expressed support for returning to being a speaking obstructionist. “The obstruction allows a senator to block a bill by refusing to give the floor, unless at least 60 colleagues vote to end the debate and proceed to the vote,” explains The Washington Post. “In recent years, the opposing senator has not had to actually speak for hours – instead, simply announcing an intention to obstruct is enough to block the bill.” Currently, adds NBC News, “the onus is on the majority to find 60 votes to move the legislation forward; if it doesn’t work, for or the majority pulls the bill.” More stories from theweek.com Inslee: A tale of two COVID-19 governors, Trump urges his supporters to be vaccinated with the ‘optimal’ and ‘safe’ vaccines of COVID-19. The great chess masters do not stop laughing after opening their tournament match with the worst possible moves