“Every member of the Senate will be judged by history on their position before the vote and after the vote,” Joe Biden thundered on Tuesday. The US president’s pressure move has apparently failed: on Thursday, a Democratic senator repeated that she was against the proposed strategy of a forced passage in the Senate to pass electoral reform by a simple majority. protecting minorities’ access to the vote. If unsuccessful, it would be a second major setback caused by Democratic divisions for Joe Biden, a month after the postponement of a sweeping climate and social spending plan blocked by centrist Senator Joe Manchin.
BREAKING: “There’s no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation,” Sen. Kyrsten Sinema says one day after Pres. Biden announced support for changing filibuster rule to pass voting rights bills. “It is the view I continue to hold.” pic.twitter.com/h6TAnrJT14
— ABC News (@ABC) January 13, 2022
This time, it is the senator from Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema, who has stepped up to the plate. From the Senate, she engaged in a balancing act: she first explained that she was in favor of the double bill but against an initiative aimed at lowering the majority necessary to have them adopted from 60 to 50 voice. “I will not support separate actions that deepen the underlying division gnawing at our country,” she insisted, explaining that this rule forced both parties to seek a compromise.
A disputed rule
This “filibuster rule” is an old Senate tradition. To avoid exposing oneself to endless parliamentary filibuster, 60 votes out of 100 are required for all bills except those relating to the budget. This qualified majority of 3/5 is supposed to encourage moderation and dialogue across partisan lines.
Problem, with divisions that have widened since the election of Barack Obama, it has become almost impossible to reach 60 votes, except for consensual projects such as the gigantic infrastructure spending plan adopted at the end of 2021.
“Eliminating the 60-vote threshold with the thinnest possible majorities to pass these bills that I support will not guarantee that we prevent demagogues from coming to power,” said Kyrsten Sinema in a lengthy plea, denouncing the “infernal spiral of division” which is undermining America. Joe Biden had a meeting at midday with the elected officials of his camp in the Senate to convince them to get in working order.