President Joe Biden announced on June 30 that he would support ending the 60-vote Senate filibuster to pass bills to allow abortions at the federal level.
During his campaign, Biden said he wanted to keep the filibuster. When he entered office, he affirmed his support for the Senate rule.
Biden was asked during the NATO summit in Spain on June 30 about keeping the rule amid the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. He said that the only way to respond is by Congress passing a law.
“The foremost thing we should do is make it clear how outrageous this decision was,” Biden said. “I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure that Congress votes to do that.
“And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, we should require an exception to the filibuster for this action,” said Biden, who had threatened to use the filibuster on several occasions for bills when he was a senator.
After the Supreme Court decision on June 24, Biden called on Congress to codify Roe v. Wade and on Americans to turn up en masse at the polls to vote in favor of Democrats who favor allowing abortions.
The Supreme Court, in a 6–3 ruling, overturned the 1973 Roe decision, which argued that women have a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito on June 24 said that it is only legislatures—not courts—that have the power to dictate laws around abortions and noted that the Constitution doesn’t make mention of the procedure.
The filibuster, which was first used in 1837 and was established in the Senate to protect the interests of the minority party, takes advantage of a rule that 60 votes are needed to stop debate on a bill. Debate on a bill can last indefinitely.
