Confident in Democrats’ chances in the 2024 election, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is once again floating the idea of eliminating the filibuster to get policy priorities across the finish line.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention, the New York Democrat said he’s looking at changing the 60-vote filibuster rule, which he once vigorously defended, in order to pass two “very, very important” measures: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He believes there will be “consensus in my caucus to try and do that.” Democrats will also weigh rule changes to codify abortion access in federal law.
Schumer outlined a path for Democrats to change the Senate rules that requires holding 50 of their 51 seats. The party expects to lose Sen. Joe Manchin's seat in West Virginia but hopes to protect incumbents including Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in addition to seeing Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., replace independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Manchin and Sinema, who are both retiring, stood in the way of Democrats who wanted to make changes to the filibuster in 2022, which requires a majority vote — or 50 senators plus the tiebreaking vice president. But that dynamic could change next year.
“We got it up to 48 but of course, Sinema and Manchin voted no; that’s why we couldn’t change the rules. Well, they’re both gone,” Schumer told reporters here on Tuesday during the week of the Democratic convention. “Ruben Gallego is for it, and we have 51. So even losing Manchin, we still have 50.” (NBC News)
As Axios notes, however, there are more than two Democrats “privately opposed” to the notion, making the prospect more difficult than he suspects.