Chuck Schumer promises gun control votes, including on House-passed bills. But the House universal background checks bill lacks the votes: Even Joe Manchin is against it, says it goes too far. What can pass? Some version of Manchin-Toomey. Maybe. If that. nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
There is clearly a path to 50 Senate votes on a substantial gun background checks bill. But 60? Not so clear.
Joe Manchin tells me he has "no idea" how many votes Manchin-Toomey would get today. He defers to Pat Toomey, who says it will be "very difficult" to pass.
Democrats are on board with that policy as a minimum; big question is how many Republicans join.
Biden’s advisers are crafting a $3 trillion package on infrastructure and other provisions, financed with tax increases, a source familiar with the plan tells NBC (confirming NYT/ @jimtankersley). Details still in flux.
Senate Judiciary Chair @DickDurbin says his committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on proposals to reduce gun violence, with subcommittee chair @SenBlumenthal taking the helm.
The House recently passed a couple of bills to bolster background checks and close gaps in the system.
Durbin — again — takes aim at the filibuster, warning that it stands in the way of passing gun control. He says Democrats are "hoping that maybe there's a bipartisan sentiment that can reach 60 votes" on "thoughtful" measures to cut violence. But he doesn't sound optimistic.
Durbin responds to McConnell's defense of the 60-vote rule: "If the Senate can work with a filibuster, show us," he says. "Work with us to pass important legislation."
Joe Biden on why he wants to change the filibuster rule: "It's getting to the point where democracy is having a hard time functioning." nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
I asked @DickDurbin today what turned him against the filibuster. He mentioned Mitch McConnell, losing the Dream Act to the 60-vote rule and protecting civil rights.
"There comes a point where you ask: What is the value of this body?" he said.
Dick Durbin is on the floor torching the modern filibuster, saying it has "become the death grip of democracy."
"Senators can literally phone in a filibuster... Today's filibuster has turned the world's greatest deliberative body into one of the world's most ineffectual bodies."
From there, @SenatorDurbin mentions the DREAM Act, which was filibustered to death in 2010.
A new version of that bill is up for a vote this week in the House, where it's expected to pass. But it faces long odds again in the Senate under the 60-vote rule.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin says the filibuster has to go. He says there should at least be a "standing filibuster" that requires senators to talk in order to hold up a bill.
"It's time to change the Senate rules," he says. "Stop holding the Senate hostage."
.@SenJeffMerkley, chief filibuster antagonist, tells me: “There’s been a tremendous sea change in the Democratic caucus, saying: ‘We were elected to solve problems, not to apologize because McConnell stopped us.’ That excuse will not fly, nor should it.” nbcnews.com/politics/congr…