Biden Supports Filibuster Change on Voting Rights as Last Resort

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden would support changing Senate filibuster rules to enact voting rights legislation as a last resort if Congress can’t do something otherwise, though there aren’t enough votes to do so right now, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. 

Biden, speaking Wednesday in an interview with ABC News, said he supported eliminating the filibuster if it’s all that stood in the way of passing voting rights legislation. Psaki then said Thursday that Biden’s full answer, which wasn’t aired in its entirety, added that he didn’t think they’d have to resort to that, but that voting rights legislation remains a priority.

“He said, I would just reiterate, that he doesn’t think we’ll have to go that far,” Psaki said when asked about the filibuster. “I think the key thing we know at this point in time, which you know, is that there aren’t enough votes to change the Senate rules at this point in time.”

In portions of the interview broadcast by ABC, Biden said he supported doing “whatever it takes” to enact voting rights reform. “If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed, and not getting it passed, is the filibuster, I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster,” he said.

The president has regularly spoken about seeing voting rights as a “fundamental priority” for him, Psaki said. “As he said in his answer last night, we may not have to go to that, but he is prepared to support changes if that’s the only thing standing in the way of getting this done.”

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