Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said in an interview released Thursday that she supports repealing the filibuster for constitutional issues, including voting rights legislation and other measures.
Clinton told Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for her 2016 presidential campaign, that the filibuster “stands in the way of a lot of legislation, and whether or not it can be either reformed or eliminated is what we will find out in the next few weeks.”
“It certainly should be lifted for constitutional matters, and I would put election law matters at the top of that list,” Clinton said on an episode of Palmieri’s podcast, “Just Something About Her,” published on Thursday.
The current filibuster rules require 60 votes in the Senate to move forward with legislation. Calls for nixing the procedural tool have gained steam recently among Democratic lawmakers, and President Biden has signaled that he is open to making significant changes to the filibuster if it continues to be a roadblock to passing legislation on top priorities such as voting rights legislation.
Clinton in the interview released Thursday accused Republican lawmakers of seeking to block voting rights bills following Biden’s victory over former President Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
“We had a good election. More people voted. It was fair. It was credible. It was certified by lots of Republican states and the Republicans didn’t like the result. Being the result-oriented folks that they are, they’re trying to change the rules to make it harder for people to vote and have their votes counted,” Clinton said on the podcast. “And I do think this is a direct constitutional challenge to the rights of citizenship, to the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment, to a long line of cases.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has vowed that the Senate will hold a vote on sweeping voting rights legislation known as the For the People Act.
Senators in a committee hearing last week battled over the legislation, which expands voting access, creates an independent nonpartisan redistricting commission in an effort to get rid of partisan gerrymandering and more.
“This Senate will once again be the forum where civil rights are debated and historic action is taken to secure them for all Americans,” Schumer said last week.
The Senate is also expected to move on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, legislation to restore previous protections in the 1965 Voting Rights Act that were limited in 2013 by the Supreme Court.