An insight on how things work in the US Senate….
Biden KNOWS that to tinker with the process as Manchin suggests will make things worst for him….
He also knows that process actually works better for the majority in the chamber, which the Democrats only has a slim one….
To lose the process could actually help the Republican minority that has at least TWO Democrats that could join them in simple majority voting….
“The way that filibusters work in the Senate now is mostly invisible. The minority (typically the minority party, although it could be any group of senators who want to block a bill or an amendment) informs the majority that it will object to allowing a vote. The majority then either backs off and pulls the item off the Senator floor, or — if it has the votes — files for cloture to end debate and bring the matter to a vote and, if there are 60 votes, defeat the filibuster and eventually pass the item. No one gives extended speeches. A successful filibuster is usually invisible, with the majority never bringing the bill up for debate.”
“This makes people carried away by Jimmy Stewart sad. Or perhaps they mistakenly believe that the majority is letting the minority get away with something. But the truth is that the modern silent filibuster was invented by ruling Democrats a half-century ago to help the majority, not the minority. Filibustering by notification allows the majority party to get other things done, instead of wasting scarce Senate time on something that doesn’t have the votes for cloture.”….
…
Bringing back talking filibusters to punish the minority gets it backward.
As far as the bigger picture, Manchin is correct if he’s realizing the current situation, in which the minority party filibusters every bill so that a 60-vote supermajority is needed for all legislation, cries out for reform. I wish that there were at least 15 senators from both parties who wished to find a compromise that would preserve some influence for minorities, especially intense minorities, while also making it possible for simple majorities to generally get their way. That’s how the Senate used to work during most of its history; filibusters were reserved for only the highest priority of Senate minorities.
But for better or worse — and there are good arguments either way, especially given that in practice the high priority Senate minorities protected during that history was white supremacy — hardly any senators from either party are interested in finding a carefully calibrated compromise. Unless something changes, the filibuster will die before too long…