Biden says he agrees with Obama that filibuster is 'a relic of the Jim Crow era'
Joe Biden told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Thursday at the first formal news conference of his presidency that he agreed with former President Barack Obama that the filibuster "was a relic of the Jim Crow era" but added that his immediate focus was on addressing the abuse of the rule first.
Posted — Updated"At John Lewis' funeral, President Barack Obama said he believed the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Do you agree?" Collins asked.
"Yes," Biden answered.
Pressed by Collins on why then not to abolish it, Biden answered, "Successful electoral politics is the art of the possible. Let's figure out how we can get this done and move in the direction of significantly changing the abuse of even the filibuster rule first. It's been abused from the time it came into being, by an extreme way in the last 20 years. Let's deal with the abuse first."
When Collins noted it sounded like he was moving closer to supporting eliminating the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to end debate on legislation, he responded, "I answered your question."
Earlier in the news conference, Biden said the rule was being "abused in a gigantic way" and suggested he "strongly" supports moving back to the original process of the filibuster. He also said he has an "open mind" on the use of the filibuster for certain topics, including voting rights, a key legislative priority for him that does not currently have the votes to pass.
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