Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), during an appearance Fox News’s “The Sean Hannity Show” Wednesday night, threatened to make full use of the so-called “talking filibuster” if Democrats reform the Senate procedural move.
“Here’s what Biden needs to understand: If you go to the talking filibuster, we will take the floor to stop HR 1,” Graham said, referring to Democrats’ legislation to expand and protect voting rights.
The night before, President Biden endorsed the idea of bringing back the talking filibuster, which would require lawmakers to continuously talk on the floor, without any bathroom breaks. Progressives have increasingly sought filibuster reform as the 50-50 split Senate offers a steep path forward for several liberal priorities.
“You’ve got to work for the filibuster,” Biden said during an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos. “It is almost getting to the point where democracy is having a hard time functioning.”
Graham claimed that he would talk as long as needed to prevent the passing of legislation he believes would “destroy the Senate as we know it.”
“I would talk ’til I fell over to make sure we don’t go to ballot harvesting and voting by mail without ID,” he said. “I would talk ’til I fell over to make sure that the Equality Act doesn’t become law, destroying the difference between a man and woman in our law.”
HR 1 is unlikely to pass in an evenly divided Senate, Graham said.
“You can’t do anything without unanimous consent that matters,” he told Hannity.
Some Democrats are actively working to abolish the filibuster entirely.
That idea, however, would require the agreement of all 50 Senate Democrats, and two of them, Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), have shot down the idea.