The president's resistance to altering the filibuster effectively torpedoes Democrats' last-ditch option for raising the debt limit.

The government is hurtling toward some historic firsts: a debt default and a government shutdown during a pandemic. Here's why.

Sen. Joe Manchin is set on securing bipartisan support for the new bill as the two parties are increasingly occupying different worlds on the matter.

"I think if we're not successful in getting 10 Republicans to do the right thing, then we have no choice but to revisit the rules of the Senate," he said.

Marchers pushed for lawmakers to pass key bills that have stalled in Congress - the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Advancement Act.

Biden has frustrated voting rights advocates with his hesitancy to push for changes to the Senate filibuster while decrying restrictive election laws.

"I don't think he's smart enough," former President Donald Trump said of the Republican leader, according to a new book.

Biden has been a Washington institution for decades, and as his presidency unfolds, his domestic agenda has been defined by his response to COVID-19.

"Remember our constitution was set up to protect who?" Santorum says in a secretly taped video. "Minority rights, not the majority rights."

Former Sen. Rick Santorum said in the video that Republicans are unlikely to roll back social programs once they're in place.

Some Republicans are pushing Democrats to dial down a big social spending package. They're also trying to control governance from the minority.

Sinema and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin are the only two Democrats who've vocalized staunch opposition to eliminating the Senate filibuster.

Manchin's backing is pivotal and would allow a new spending bill to pass without any GOP votes. He wants to raise corporate taxes as well.

"I like Joe Manchin a lot, but ... I don't like the idea of taking the power to redistrict away from the state legislators," Graham said on Fox News.

Former President Donald Trump, who wanted Republicans to nix the filibuster while in office, thanked Manchin for his support of the filibuster.

"By taking it off the table, haven't you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?" Wallace asked.

The For the People Act seeks to end partisan gerrymandering, blunt voter purges, and expand early and absentee voting, among other things.

The White House press secretary said the president's remarks were rather a "commentary" on cable TV punditry.

The president was addressing criticism that he has not been able to enact more of his governing agenda.

A vote to advance the legislation was defeated in a 54-35 vote, garnering the support of all present Democrats and six Republicans.

"Anyone expecting a return to some bygone era of bipartisanship isn't acknowledging the reality that we are in," Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla said.

Instead, Democrats should hammer the GOP about the Capitol riot. "They have to make the Republicans own that insurrection every day," he said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged his caucus to publicly praise the two Democratic lawmakers.

He told Senate Republicans that the Democratic duo could "save this institution" with their resistance to eliminating the filibuster, Politico reports.

Most respondents, 36%, said they don't have a strong feeling about the filibuster, while 17% think the bill delaying measure is fine as is.

The Senate majority leader may have found how Democrats can pass two more bills via reconciliation this fiscal year. An aide says it's exploratory.

During a CNN interview, Warnock said that while passing an infrastructure bill is vital, protecting voting rights has to be a legislative priority.

President Biden inched closer to endorsing Democratic efforts to abolish the rule requiring 60 votes to pass legislation.

McConnell told the "Ruthless" podcast that the Senate would develop "a sort of nuclear winter" if Democrats were to get rid of the filibuster.

The dual tragedies have again reinvigorated calls for federal gun control and activists have zeroed in on ditching the filibuster as a first step.

Trump sang a different tune when he was in the White House and Republicans controlled the Senate.

Sen. Feinstein has long been leery of dramatically altering the procedural tool, pushing instead for bipartisan consensus on a range of legislative issues.

Labor leaders and progressive lawmakers discussed how to raise the minimum wage on a Friday call, maybe by reconciliation or ending the filibuster.

In his eulogy for Rep. John Lewis, former President Barack Obama called to abolish the filibuster if it would allow federal voting laws to be passed.

House Democrats introduced earmark reforms in late February, and the GOP just voted to repeal its outright ban of them. The Senate hasn't voted yet.

The top Republican reiterated threats of a "scorched-earth" Senate as progressive Democrats call to reform filibuster rules.

"He believes that, you know, we are stronger when we build a broad coalition of support," said Kate Bedingfield of Biden's push for consensus.

The filibuster means that 60 votes are needed to pass most legislation in the Senate.

A 19th-century Senate tactic known as the filibuster threatens to pose major hurdles for President Joe Biden as he tries to get his agenda off the ground. Democrats are poised to pass coronavirus relief with a majority vote if bipartisan talks fall through, but other parts of their agenda cannot […]

On Monday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dropped his fight over the filibuster. Democrats claimed his move as a win, and the two sides are moving forward with a power-sharing deal. But the party can’t celebrate quite yet with a political battle over Biden’s coronavirus stimulus package on the horizon. […]

Mitch McConnell is wielding any power he can to block Democrats from carrying out their agenda. Democrats, now in control of Congress and the White House, are pushing back on McConnell’s demands. It’s left the Senate at an impasse at the start of Joe Biden’s presidency. Visit Business Insider’s homepage […]

Former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada said that if Joe Biden captures the White House and Democrats win control of the Senate, then the former vice president should spend “no more than three weeks” testing the waters for bipartisanship before eliminating the filibuster, according to the Associated Press. Reid, a […]

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the new edition of Insider Today. Please sign up here . QUOTE OF THE DAY “Well, it’s not the hardest test. They have a picture and it says ‘what’s that’ and it’s an elephant,” –Chris Wallace of Fox News, interviewing President Trump about the mental acuity […]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday said she would support abolishing the Senate’s legislative filibuster. Getting rid of the filibuster would be a massive change to the Senate’s rules. Speaking at a conference in New York City on Friday, Warren said the filibuster had become a hindrance to effectively passing legislation. […]

President Donald Trump seems prepared for an extended government shutdown. Trump demanded the Senate pass a bill that includes funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border, a prospect that is dead on arrival in the Senate since Democrats could filibuster the bill. So Trump urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch […]

President Donald Trump renewed his calls for the Senate to kill the legislative filibuster, citing it as a key obstacle to why there is no permanent solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border. A history of major policy failures […]

President Donald Trump predicted the downfall...

House Speaker Paul Ryan sided with President...

President Donald Trump fired off a tweet...

If Republicans have their way, Judge Neil...

Democrats are decided on one thing when it...

President Donald Trump said he plans...

Holding it in.

Making the case for Senate reform.

Mitch McConnell warns against "killing the Senate."

"For every progressive, she's probably amped up at least three pro-lifers."

Ron Paul fans revolt. 

Independents are 'Standing with Rand.'

The nail in the coffin? 

[credit provider=”AP”] Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul has emerged from his 13-hour filibuster as a national political leader, having unexpectedly unified divergent wings of the Republican Party on the issue of civil liberties. For libertarians, Paul’s filibuster — and the groundswell of support for it across the conservative spectrum — was […]

U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) slammed Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) charge that he and two conservative Senators were “wackos,” chiding him on Twitter for the criticism after he participated in a dinner excursion with President Barack Obama on Wednesday. 

[credit provider=”Comedy Central”] Echoing his comments from Wednesday night’s show, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart praised Sen. Rand Paul — and some of the other Senators that joined him — in a marathon, 13-hour filibuster of CIA Director John Brennan.But there was one Senator whom Stewart said didn’t quite belong […]

In a speech slamming Sen. Rand Paul on the Senate floor this morning, Sen. John McCain quoted heavily from a Wall Street Journal editorial that charged Paul’s marathon filibuster on Wednesday was a “political stunt.”

[credit provider=”White House”] White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder has sent Sen. Rand Paul another letter clarifying the administration’s position on drone strikes on U.S. soil.”The President has not and would not use drone strikes against American citizens on US soil” who are not engaged […]

The Huffington Post has a shocking splash right now that takes a strong stand on the Obama administration’s drone-strike policy. The splash features photos from Noor Behram, a Pakistani photojournalist who lives in North Waziristan and has documented some of the areas where the U.S. has struck. 

[credit provider=”CSPAN”] The conservative editorial board of the Wall Street Journal criticised Sen. Rand Paul for his nearly 13-hour filibuster Wednesday, terming it a “drone rant” that was about “theatrical timing.”The Journal blasted Paul for not understanding the laws of war, writing that Paul’s reasoning for questioning the U.S.’s policies on […]

Last night, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) mounted a filibuster in the classic style, where one Senator hits the floor and talks until he can’t. 

[credit provider=”Comedy Central”] “The Daily Show”‘s Jon Stewart opened his show Wednesday night by praising Sen. Rand Paul, who was at airtime still in the midst of a nearly 13-hour filibuster of John Brennan’s nomination as CIA Director.It’s significant coming from Stewart, the left-leaning host of “The Daily Show” who […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Senator Rand Paul took over the Senate floor for nearly 13 hours Wednesday with an old-fashioned talk-till-you-drop filibuster, railing against the Obama administration’s drone policy and holding up a vote on John Brennan’s confirmation as CIA director. “I will speak until I can no longer speak,” Paul began at 11:47 […]

[credit provider=”C-SPAN”] Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio came back to the floor during the 12th hour of Rand Paul’s filibuster of CIA nominee John Brennan, throwing out a few bizarre pop culture references to reinforce his point.Rubio cited rappers Wiz Khalifa and Jay-Z — and also quoted several lines from “The […]

Matt Drudge, the conservative creator and editor of The Drudge Report, tweeted Wednesday night that Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster of John Brennan’s nomination as CIA Director constituted an “energy shift” for the entire Republican Party. 

Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer declared tonight that Rand Paul’s epic filibuster of John Brennan’s nomination as CIA Director will be his coming-out moment on a national stage. 

[credit provider=”Tech. Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.” url=”http://www.defenseimagery.mil/imagery.html#guid=7ddf11d38fd4961d50123bbd3a433928bca60aa8″] [Editor’s note: Rand Paul read out this Atlantic article around nine hours into his historic filibuster.]n December 7, 1941, Japanese war planes bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Six decades later, Al Qaeda terrorists flew hijacked aeroplanes into the […]

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is in the seventh hour of his filibuster of CIA Director nominee John Brennan. Understandably, the Kentucky Republican must be starving.

[credit provider=”AP”] Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster of proposed CIA Director John Brennan’s confirmation has been going on since 11:47 a.m. on Wednesday. Paul’s filibuster brings to mind a question: Will his filibuster come close to any of his Senatorial forebears?

During his epic filibuster today, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul expressed concern about the lack of clear definition defining who the U.S. could target in drone strikes against American citizens.

Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA Director has started to gain significant momentum this afternoon, as other prominent Republican Senators and conservative minds have praised Paul’s three-plus-hour long effort.

[credit provider=”Wikimedia/United States Navy” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_050210-N-2383B-253_Senator_James_Inhofe_%28R-OK%29_questions_top_ranking_leaders_of_the_U.S._Armed_Forces,_during_the_Defense_Authorization_Request_for_Fiscal_Year_2006_and_the_Future_Years_Defense_Program.jpg”] During Sunday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “America’s News HQ,” Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe threatened to use the filibuster to derail the confirmation of former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel as secretary of defence.According to Inhofe, Hagel is unfit to take the top defence post, […]

Not even a month into the Congress and Elizabeth Warren has already been disappointed by her peers.

[credit provider=”The Internet Movie Database” url=”http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1899740672/nm0000071″] Ruling that the courts have no power to do anything about it, a federal judge on Friday threw out a claim that Senate filibusters are an unconstitutional denial of majority rule.  U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, in a 40-seven-page opinion, said none of the challengers […]

[credit provider=”via U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin” url=”http://www.durbin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hot-topics?ContentRecord_id=d17ca59b-7420-441b-9ac2-2faf7549e9d0″] A federal court heard arguments today in a case that’s trying to stop the abuse of the Senate filibuster, Ari Melber reports for Reuters.The filibuster allows Senators to speak as long as they’d like to delay a vote unless 60 per cent of […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Massachusetts Senator-Elect Elizabeth Warren wrote a column in Huffington Post last week on her thoughts before heading to Washington.In it, she mentioned what she wanted to do on day one. Don’t worry Wall Street, it’s not “add 200 pages to Dodd-Frank” or “call Jamie Dimon down to D.C. […]

[credit provider=”Flickr ProgressOhio” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/progressohio/4363571978/in/photostream/”] The Senate was unable to reach the 60-vote threshold to override a Republican filibuster on the nomination of Richard Cordray to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a 53 to 45 vote Thursday morning, with one Senator voting ‘present.’The White House […]

[credit provider=”AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File”] In one of the most striking exchanges on the Senate floor in recent memory, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sparred for over an hour on arcane rules, as the normally-collegial body debated the Chinese currency bill.Technically at issue were nine […]