Biden tells Democrats to make the Senate work again


President Biden endorsed a drastic reform to the Senate filibuster in an interview with ABC News Tuesday night. "I don't think that you have to eliminate the filibuster, you have to do it what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days," he said. "You had to stand up and command the floor, you had to keep talking."
This may seem like a minor change, but in fact it would basically eliminate the filibuster as it is known today. Many don't realize this, but as former Senate staffer Adam Jentleson explains in his book Kill Switch, executing a filibuster today only requires one single staffer to reply to an email. This ease of use is the main reason why virtually every piece of normal legislation is filibustered.
Biden did not say precisely what reform he would endorse (and the details would matter a lot), but two options that Democrats are reportedly passing around are:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
1. Allowing a filibuster to be broken with three-fifths of senators present on the floor, which implies that Republicans would need to keep 34 senators present at all times to keep one up, or
2. Requiring 41 senators to be constantly present to maintain a filibuster, instead of requiring 60 to break one.
Either one of these options — and especially the second one — would be extremely burdensome for the obstructing minority. Nobody likes staying up for days on end, and especially not senators, who are usually elderly and tend to like spending a lot of time at home or on vacation (witness Ted Cruz).
Now, it would be better to simply get rid of the filibuster altogether and run the Senate along majority lines. But this reform would go a long way. Republicans would almost certainly not bother for most legislation, and it would be possible for a determined majority to wait them out on big bills like H.R. 1 or a green infrastructure package, even if they tried.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Graphic videos of Charlie Kirk’s death renew debate over online censorship
Talking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
Trump's drug war is now a real shooting war
Talking Points The Venezuela boat strike was 'not a mere law enforcement action'
-
Truck drivers are questioning the Trump administration's English mandate
Talking Points Some have praised the rules, others are concerned they could lead to profiling
-
Gavin Newsom's Trump-style trolling roils critics while thrilling fans
TALKING POINTS The California governor has turned his X account into a cutting parody of Trump's digital cadence, angering Fox News conservatives
-
Costco is at the center of an abortion debate
Talking Points The decision to no longer stock the abortion pill came following a pressure campaign by conservatives
-
What does occupying Gaza accomplish for Israel?
Talking Points Risking a 'strategic dead-end' in the fight against Hamas
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardon
Talking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
Does depopulation threaten humanity?
Talking Points Falling birth rates could create a 'smaller, sadder, poorer future'