Biden’s agenda could face headwinds on Capitol Hill even before a bill is unveiled. The Senate’s 50-50 split gives any one senator an enormous amount of influence, and rules requiring at least 60 senators to vote to advance legislation and break a filibuster mean at least 10 Republicans would have to join all Democrats in supporting a bill.
Asked Tuesday how Democrats would move their legislation past the filibuster, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said there were “conversations going on in the House,” but the issue was largely one for the Senate.
Democrats might use a legislative process called budget reconciliation to pass the bill, which would require only a simple majority in the Senate. Doing so places constraints on the legislation and could bring opposition from some lawmakers. The process was used to pass the American Recovery Act this week.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a moderate who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a pivotal vote for much of the Democrats’ agenda, said on “Axios on HBO” he would block Biden’s jobs and infrastructure package unless enough Republicans were included in the process to avoid a filibuster.
“I’m not going to do it through reconciliation,” he said, adding he would not “get on a bill that cuts (Republicans) out completely before we start trying.”
Some Democrats have discussed changing or getting rid of the filibuster to ensure that legislation can be passed without bipartisan support. Biden does not support abolishing the filibuster.
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