Biden says changing filibuster rules to raise debt ceiling 'a real possibility'

What's the deal with the filibuster? This is a voyage that starts with pirates in the Caribbean. A real ones. How's that for a hook? So the filibuster is a tool that senators can use to stop a bill from passing. But before we get into what exactly that means we've got to talk about how the chamber votes in order for Bill to sail through the Senate, just a simple majority. 51 out of 100 senators have to say hi. Before they could go to the bill itself, though, senators debated. Then they vote on whether to stop debate and actually vote on the bill. At least 60 have to agree to that. This is called Cluster. If a senator doesn't even want to risk having a vote on a bill because they don't want it to pass, they can filibuster talking for so long that they rob the Senate of working on anything else. Some have read the phone book. Dr Seuss even sang songs to make it happen, pirating the legislative process. Now, once they start that course, the goal is to get as many other folks in their side to try and stop the Senate for moving forward with the bill, A change in the rules back in the 19 seventies. Allowing the Senate toe work on multiple things at once means they don't do those long speeches quite as much anymore. Just the threat can get a bill pushed off to the side long enough that it essentially walks the plane plunging into the ocean of dead legislation. If this sounds like a waste of time, it ISS it's kind of the point. Although it didn't start off that way, the filibuster is a tool that the Senate stumbled upon essentially back in the 18 hundreds. It was to support debate in what's considered the higher minded Chamber of Congress, some saying that it forces bipartisanship. Now it's used by the party that's not empowered to have a bit more sway. But the filibuster can't block everything. Bills that mainly affect taxes and spending can go a reconciliation process and can't be filibustered. Then there is the nuclear option. It lets the majority party blow up the filibuster and that 60 vote requirement in certain situations. Now, so far, it's only been used to confirm federal judges, Supreme Court justices, Cabinet secretaries Oh, almost forgot the whole pirate connection. So the term filibuster comes from a mix of Dutch, French and Spanish words that mean pirate eventually became used to describe people who encouraged revolutions in the Caribbean considered obstructionist, and a couple of decades later it became the practice of obstructing to block a vote in the Senate, and that is the deal to filibuster.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said it was a "real possibility" that Senate Democrats would look to change the filibuster rules in order to overcome Republican opposition and raise the debt ceiling ahead of a fast-approaching deadline.A change to the filibuster rules would allow Democrats to avoid a potentially catastrophic default less than two weeks away, but every Democratic senator would have to be on board to make the change.Democrats have the ability to raise the debt ceiling on their own but would need to use a lengthy congressional process called reconciliation to do so. Using reconciliation to raise the debt ceiling could take two weeks -- very close to the October 18 deadline laid out by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Changing the filibuster rules would allow Democrats to move much quicker while still only using Democratic votes and Vice President Kamala Harris to pass the debt ceiling hike.It would nullify the 60-vote requirement to break a filibuster to raise the debt ceiling, allowing a simple majority to do so instead.One of the fiercest opponents to changing the filibuster rules, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, on Tuesday would not say if he would oppose a "carve out" in the filibuster rules, telling CNN that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell need to cut a deal. The day before he said he was opposed to changing the filibuster rules.Democrats have been discussing whether it is possible to change the filibuster rules, according to multiple sources at closed-door sessions. At a caucus lunch on Tuesday, Democrats rejected Republican demands to go through budget reconciliation and argued they should not heed the calls of McConnell.Republicans argue Democrats should handle the debt ceiling on their own by using the budget reconciliation process, which would not require GOP votes. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Schumer have said they are opposed to that idea, and they believe it is Republicans' responsibility to help pay down debts that were incurred by both parties.The budget process would require the Senate to engage in a lengthy debate process, two marathon voting sessions known as a vote-a-rama and ultimately would require Republicans to show up in committees to help Democrats advance the process.Biden on Monday said he couldn't guarantee the debt ceiling would be raised in time because of "hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful" Republican opposition.If a default did occur, it would be the first time in the nation's history and is expected to be financially catastrophic.Failure to raise the debt ceiling in time could halt payments that millions of Americans rely on, including paychecks to federal workers, Medicare benefits, military salaries, tax refunds, Social Security checks and payments to federal contractors. It could cause job losses, a shutdown of tens of billions in COVID-19 economic recovery aid still set to be delivered, a near-freeze in credit markets and gross domestic product taking a tangible hit that could last for multiple quarters.

WASHINGTON —

A change to the filibuster rules would allow Democrats to avoid a potentially catastrophic default less than two weeks away, but every Democratic senator would have to be on board to make the change.

Democrats have the ability to raise the debt ceiling on their own but would need to use a lengthy congressional process called reconciliation to do so. Using reconciliation to raise the debt ceiling could take two weeks -- very close to the October 18 deadline laid out by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Changing the filibuster rules would allow Democrats to move much quicker while still only using Democratic votes and Vice President Kamala Harris to pass the debt ceiling hike.

It would nullify the 60-vote requirement to break a filibuster to raise the debt ceiling, allowing a simple majority to do so instead.

One of the fiercest opponents to changing the filibuster rules, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, on Tuesday would not say if he would oppose a "carve out" in the filibuster rules, telling CNN that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell need to cut a deal. The day before he said he was opposed to changing the filibuster rules.

Democrats have been discussing whether it is possible to change the filibuster rules, according to multiple sources at closed-door sessions. At a caucus lunch on Tuesday, Democrats rejected Republican demands to go through budget reconciliation and argued they should not heed the calls of McConnell.

Republicans argue Democrats should handle the debt ceiling on their own by using the budget reconciliation process, which would not require GOP votes. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Schumer have said they are opposed to that idea, and they believe it is Republicans' responsibility to help pay down debts that were incurred by both parties.

The budget process would require the Senate to engage in a lengthy debate process, two marathon voting sessions known as a vote-a-rama and ultimately would require Republicans to show up in committees to help Democrats advance the process.

Biden on Monday said he couldn't guarantee the debt ceiling would be raised in time because of "hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful" Republican opposition.

If a default did occur, it would be the first time in the nation's history and is expected to be financially catastrophic.

Failure to raise the debt ceiling in time could halt payments that millions of Americans rely on, including paychecks to federal workers, Medicare benefits, military salaries, tax refunds, Social Security checks and payments to federal contractors. It could cause job losses, a shutdown of tens of billions in COVID-19 economic recovery aid still set to be delivered, a near-freeze in credit markets and gross domestic product taking a tangible hit that could last for multiple quarters.

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