ATLANTA (LifeSiteNews) – President Joe Biden endorsed a move by Democrat U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York to force a vote on altering the U.S. Senate’s long-standing filibuster rule to bring about a change, if implemented, that would provide cover for the Democrats’ 2020 election fraud and potentially abolish all constraints on abortion.
“Sadly, the United States Senate, designed to be the world’s greatest deliberative body, has been rendered a shell of its former self,” Biden claimed. “I believe that the threat to our democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voting rights bills, debate them, vote, let the majority prevail. And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this.”
Biden’s announcement came as part of the White House’s public relations tour to promote passage of the For the People Act of 2021 and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Presented under the guise of guaranteeing civil rights currently stonewalled by Republicans, these two euphemistically named bills would prevent state-driven election reforms and foster the expansive level of election corruption and voter fraud experienced in the 2020 elections. Both bills have passed in the U.S. House of Representatives but are currently dead in the Senate due to its filibuster protocol.
The Senate’s current filibuster rule allows a minority party in a closely divided chamber to block legislation from passage or obtain a vote. Because the Senate has the power to set its own rules, the Democrats are seeking an alteration to allow legislation to pass with a majority vote rather than the 60 votes currently required.
Initiating the proposed rule modification could be done with a simple majority vote, but Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona reject this change. Because there are only 50 Democrats in the Senate — making it an evenly-divided chamber — Manchin and Sinema’s objections deprive the remaining Senate Democrats of the 50 votes they need to send their proposal to the desk of Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris for a tiebreaking vote.
“Designating each state with the same number of senators — regardless of the population — ensured that rural and small states and the Americans who live in them would always have a seat at the table,” wrote Manchin in April 2021, explaining his position on the proposed rule change. “The filibuster is a critical tool to protecting that input and our democratic form of government. That is why I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt: There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster.”
The consequences of a change to the Senate’s rule range in scope from bad to worse. Democrats may attempt to sell a limited rule change to Manchin and Sinema by calling it a “partial” or “limited” carveout. This means that the rule change would allow for a simple majority vote that would apply only to some types of legislation.
However, a limited carveout becomes increasingly problematic if it allows for “Civil Rights” legislation to pass with a majority vote. For Democrats, the category of “civil rights” embraces a wide spectrum of social evils — with the so-called right to abortion chief among them.
If this scenario plays out, the carveout is more sweeping, or the filibuster abolished in its entirety, then the rule change could pave the way for passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act.
This bill has already passed in the House. If passed in the Senate, the act would enshrine into law an unprecedented and unrestricted access to abortion at every level: All current state and federal abortion laws protecting the preborn would be nullified, and any future laws designed to regulate abortion or its industry would be prohibited. Long-standing norms designed to limit abortion, such as parental notification laws and federal prohibitions on sending taxpayer dollars to advance abortion overseas, would also be eliminated.
As a Senator, Biden argued passionately against efforts to alter or ‘nuke’ the Senate filibuster rule, standing in stark contrast to his position as President: “Make No Mistake: This nuclear option is ultimately an example of the arrogance of power. It is a fundamental power grab by the majority party … designed to change the reading of the Constitution, particularly as it relates to individual rights and property rights. It’s nothing more, or nothing less.”
Republican leaders also recognize the danger of changing the Senate’s protocols to push partisan politics: “Schumer’s threat to change the rules of the Senate unless he gets his way is not just a temper tantrum; it is a threat to our Republic,” warned Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford recently. “For over two centuries, the Senate is the one place in our government where minority opinions have a voice, unless Senator Schumer gets his way.
“In 2017, 32 Senate Democrats signed a letter saying that the filibuster should not change — 27 of those Democrats are still in the Senate. Now that they are in power, they want to do whatever it takes to pass their progressive legislative agenda by changing the historic rules of our Republic.”
“It is absurd to claim that Republicans do not want free and fair elections,” Lankford continued. “We all want fair elections. Democrats want to federalize our elections over the states and local authorities in blue and red states. Their absurd overreach only benefits keeping them in power and is not what’s in the best interest of Americans.”
Schumer has promised a vote by January 17 on changing the Senate’s rules. Even if the rules change, it remains to be seen if Biden and the Democrats’ campaign to pressure Manchin and Sinema will be successful in making them cave to their demands.