January 11, 2022
Changes *may* be coming to the voting rules in United States senate. And you’re probably going to be hearing a lot about it this week.
Why? What legislation could be so important that senate leadership wants to actually talk about maybe changing the filibuster and the other senate rules?
Is it Build Back Better? No
Is it student loan forgiveness? No
According to the Senate Majority Leader – the critical issue? Is voting rights.
He sent this two-page letter to his colleagues last week outlining the urgency and critical need to address voting rights before the upcoming midterm elections. The House has already passed the Voting Rights bill but it has been stalled in the Senate for months. Senate Democrats want to move forward but Republicans have said they are not supportive of that bill. Some Republicans say they’re open to some electoral count reform but not this current voting bill.
So – how could the Senate rules change?
Well, you already know most legislation that goes through the senate must have 60 “yes” votes to break the filibuster and pass. But because of the legislative log jam that we have consistently seen, Senate leadership thinks a change may be necessary.
So what are the options?
Possibly creating carve outs to allow certain pieces of legislation to pass with a simple majority instead of 60 votes, maybe changing the ways you calculate whether a bill passes based on the number of Senators who are physically present on the Senate floor to cast a vote. And some have even suggested using the nuclear option which has been used in the past. That one is pretty unlikely to happen but if you want, I can explain how that works in a separate video.
What are the chances of the Senate voting to change the rules?
Hard to say. Senators Manchin and Sinema (and other Democrats) have both indicated they’re not open to certain Senate rule reforms but may be open to others. It’s also possible there will be no changes at all. This week will be interesting to watch.
