Senate ruling gives Democrats a back door around an infrastructure filibuster
By Carl Hulse New York Times,Updated April 6, 2021, 5:36 p.m.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.ANNA MONEYMAKER/NYT
WASHINGTON â Democrats might not have the votes to gut the filibuster, but they were just handed the procedural keys to a backdoor assault on the Senateâs famous obstruction tactic.
With a ruling on Monday that Democrats can reuse this yearâs budget blueprint at least once to employ the fast-track reconciliation process, Democrats can conceivably advance multiple spending and tax packages this year alone without a single Republican vote as long as they hold their 50 members together. It is a means of weakening the filibuster without having to take the politically charged vote to do so.