voting rights battle
Clyburn suggests a filibuster carveout for legislation related to Constitution in lieu of elimination
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a close ally of President Biden, told Politico he's pushing the White House to support a filibuster workaround that would allow Senate Democrats to pass a sweeping voting rights bill, as well as another bill reauthorizing key sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, without the required 60 votes.
The idea is to create a carveout for legislation, like the voting rights bill, that applies to the Constitution. In that case, the filibuster would still remain in tact for other issues. Clyburn said he's brought it up with White House counselor Steve Ricchetti, Office of Public Engagemenet Director Cedric Richmond, and even Vice President Kamala Harris. It's unclear if anyone was receptive, but Clyburn seems to determined to keep making the pitch since he believes "Democrats can kiss the majority goodbye" if the bill isn't passed, Politico reports.
Clyburn said he also held a one-one-one meeting with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), who has remained steadfast in his opposition to nuking the filibuster, telling him: "I'm not asking you to eliminate the filibuster. ... But what I'm saying to you is that nobody ought to have the right to filibuster my constitutional rights."
Of course, Manchin, a committed centrist, has said he won't vote for the elections bill in its current state, either way, since it's too broad, which would mean it would still fall short of a majority. But he is a proponent of the reauthorization bill. Read more at Politico.