“And if all of this requires removing the filibuster, another Jim Crow relic, to secure the God-given rights to every American, then that’s what we should do,” Obama said to applaud within the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta.
Obama is perhaps the most prominent political voice calling for the filibuster to end, as the Senate rule requires 60 votes to end the debate on most legislation and bring it to a vote. The practice, which is not enshrined in the Constitution, has long allowed the Senate minority party to let some say what legislation the chamber passes.
But the filibuster has also proven to be an obstacle to any party in power. President Donald Trump has regularly called for the end of the Senate filibuster, complaining that he allowed Senate minority Democrats to block his political agenda even when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress.
Republican lawmakers also relied heavily on the filibuster during the Obama presidency, blocking legislation and confirming presidential appointments. Obama complained at a 2018 event that the filibuster did it. “almost impossible” govern.
Obama’s reference to the filibuster as a “Jim Crow relic” is a nod to his story in the 1950s and 1960s, when segregationist senators from the south used the filibuster to attempt block multiple civil rights laws.
A push to end the filibuster has gained momentum among some in the Democratic Party, including Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) And former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, who were top contenders for the 2020 presidency of your party. nomination. Former Vice President Joe Biden, a former Senator from Delaware who surpassed Warren, Buttigieg and others to become the presumptive nominee for Democrats, said during the primary elections that he opposed removing the filibuster from the Senate, but has since stated his opening.
Biden’s campaign on Thursday did not directly address whether Biden agreed with Obama’s call to end the filibuster.
“Republicans in Congress should turn Praise to Representative Lewis into action and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act today by voice vote. No filibusters, no delay,” Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to POLITICO .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Who could remove the filibuster from Senate rules, has said he will not do so as long as he remains on top of the Republican leadership in the House. He has warned Democrats not to change the filibuster rules if they take control of the Senate, suggesting that they consider “I may not be in full control in the future.”
