Manchin and Sinema condemned for opposing filibuster reform urged by Biden – live | US news

The casket of Harry Reid has arrived at the US Capitol, where the former Senate majority leader will lie in state today.

Lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to pay their respects to Reid, who led the Senate Democratic caucus from 2005 to 2017.

Reid died late last month at the age of 82 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden both spoke at Reid’s funeral in his home state of Nevada over the weekend, remembering him as a dedicated leader who stood up for his beliefs.

“Harry would always have your back, like the kids I grew up with in Scranton,” Biden said.

“His story was unmistakably American. He was proof that there is nothing ordinary about America, and that Americans can do anything given half a chance.”

One reporter asked Joe Manchin for his response to Joe Biden’s speech on voting rights legislation and Senate filibuster reform.

Biden said in Atlanta, Georgia, yesterday, “When it comes to protecting majority rule in America, the majority should rule in the United States Senate.”

Manchin told CNN, “He understands. We all understand how the Senate works.” He did not provide any further insight into what Senate rule changes he may support.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has met with both Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema in the past day, since Joe Biden called on Democrats to change the filibuster to pass voting rights bills.

Speaking to reporters after his meetings with the centrist senators, Schumer said Democrats are “not there yet” on agreeing to rule changes.

Asked by NBC News whether he still planned to hold a vote in the coming days, Schumer replied, “The answer is we’re going to hold a vote, yes.”

The Democratic leader has set a deadline of 17 January, Martin Luther King Day, to vote on rule changes that would clear the way for voting rights bills.

Despite the focus on centrists Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, it’s unclear whether the other 48 members of the Senate Democratic caucus support changing the filibuster.

Politico reported on Monday:

Mark Kelly is not yet committed to a change in the Senate rules that would allow elections reform legislation to pass by a simple majority. A centrist who is up for reelection in November, Kelly said Monday he is still undecided just days before he may have to vote on proposals to weaken the filibuster. …

For a caucus that prides itself on unity, there’s plenty of nuance in Democrats’ views.

Some, like Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) like a talking filibuster but are ‘not crazy’ about making an exception for voting rights. Meanwhile, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) says reform is needed but is promoting more modest changes. She cites the near-impossible odds the party faces in getting all 50 Democrats on board for changing the filibuster unilaterally, also known as the ‘nuclear option.’

And with the 50-50 split in the Senate, majority leader Chuck Schumer cannot afford a single defection within the caucus if he wants to get rule changes approved and pass voting rights bills.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine and Jewel Wicker report:

Joe Biden on Tuesday gave his most forceful endorsement to date of changing the Senate filibuster rule in order to pass sweeping voting rights legislation, saying he was “tired of being quiet” in a high-profile speech in Georgia.

In one of the most significant speeches of his presidency so far, Biden drew a connection in history between the civil rights movement, the 6 January attack on the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump, and the unprecedented efforts in many states to restrict the vote over the last year.

He said America was at a moment to choose “democracy over autocracy”.

But despite the passion, some prominent Georgia civil rights activists, proclaiming themselves more interested in action than speeches, declined to attend the event in Atlanta on Tuesday where Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris spoke and urged progress in Congress to pass key legislation currently stalled there.

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer called out centrists Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema by name last night, after Joe Biden urged Democrats to change the filibuster to clear the way for a voting rights bill.

“I don’t want to delude your listeners, this is an uphill fight,” Schumer said at an event with the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. “Because Manchin and Sinema do not believe in changing the rules.”

Schumer’s comments came hours after Biden delivered his most direct appeal yet for filibuster reform, arguing that senators needed to prioritize the health of American democracy above all else.

“Let the majority prevail,” Biden said in Atlanta, Georgia. “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.”

But it’s unclear whether the pressure campaign is going to work. Manchin indicated yesterday that he still wants bipartisan support for any rule changes, which seems virtually impossible given Republicans’ unified opposition to filibuster reform.

And given the 50-50 split in the Senate, Schumer cannot move forward unless he has the support of every Democratic senator.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.