The White House on Monday declined to deny a report claiming President Joe Biden has discussed a shift in his filibuster reform stance with top Democratic leaders.
Rolling Stone reported on Sunday that the president recently told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he will “start making phone calls” and lobbying centrist Democrats and Republicans on filibuster reform.
BIDEN: REMOVING THE SENATE FILIBUSTER WOULD ‘THROW THE WHOLE CONGRESS INTO CHAOS’
Biden had previously stated his opposition to abolishing the filibuster in favor of restoring the talking filibuster, a position that some Democrats criticized for preventing the passage of “voting rights” legislation, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, questioned about the report during a gaggle on Air Force One on Monday, said that the White House will “keep those personal conversations with congressional leadership private” but did not deny Biden’s apparent new stance on the topic.
“Right now, the goal on voting rights legislation is for the Senate working on this to come together and see if they can produce a compromise,” she continued. “The president is hopeful that they can, that this group can do that. If they can do that, then they need to go line up the votes.”
Jean-Pierre added that “when or if the president has something to say” about filibuster reform, “you will hear it directly from him.”
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You can listen to Monday’s entire gaggle below.
