reconciliation process. 160 times. i think, by voting this down, by not allowing us to even debate this, to get to the conclusion of a vote, that is silencing the people of america. all in the name of an archaic senate rule, that isn t even in the constitution. that s just wrong. all in the name of an archaic rule that isn t even in the constitution. joining us live, the senior senator from minnesota, andy klobuchar. senator, i know you re in the thick of things, thanks for joining us. thanks for taking a moment to show perspective. tell us about how this happened today, and internet tonight. first of all, i love that you played that clip of maggie hassan. i love maggie. i just want to say that. she s so strong. she made the case that nobody ever could. secondly, what s happened tonight, is we had a first vote
an acceleration of state laws, that would allow partisans to overturn the impartial count of an election. but, if we do not have a functioning democracy, where people know that when they vote, that vote will be impartially counted, and upheld. and the people who are defeated, will accept defeat, so that they can have unaccountable elected representation in washington, then there is no democracy. when i signed that letter, i never imagined that today s republican party would fail to stand up for democracy. new hampshire senator, maggie hassan, with impassioned remarks you. i never imagined that the tase republican party would fail to stand up for democracy. when president biden was giving his press conference, this afternoon, as i mentioned
benefit my colleagues, from the other side of the aisle. somehow it only takes 51 votes to put in place the trump tax cuts. the bush tax cuts. somehow, it only took 51 votes to put amy coney barrett on the supreme court of the united states. a change made by them. somehow, it only takes 51 votes to try and overturn a regulation, or try to mess around with the affordable care act. but then, when it comes to something like voting rights, suddenly, everyone on the other side of the aisle is hugging that filibuster tight. knowing that so many times in history, including most recently with the debt ceiling, changes have been made to allow a vote with less than 60 votes. the national gas policy act in 1977, in 1995 the endangered species act. in 1996, a change to the
filibuster to stand, they made practical changes to get things done. sometimes on small things, but sometimes on really big things. such as, supreme court justices, which mitch mcconnell did. like the bush interim tax cuts. the recent ones for the wealthy, all on 51 vote margins. senator klobuchar, you have been telling this history in various ways throughout the debate. particularly, as the debate has become more heated and more focused on this point. i find myself frustrated by the assertions from senator manchin, and from senator sinema, that it would be unprecedented. that it s never been done before. that there s nothing in history that suggests you could have 51 vote threshold for voting on a bill like this. as if it would be something that would you have to move mountains. i m wondering if you have any perspective on that. clearly, you know the history.
was in office. during that time, republican senate leader, mitch mcconnell and the senate republicans, when nuclear, deciding you would be a majority vote only. doing that to confirm it would only be nuclear another, time deciding it would be a majority vote only, it would be 50 votes only, for a lower lever executive branch nominees. then he went nuclear third time, deciding he would change the filibuster rule. it would only have to be a majority full, a 50 vote threshold, for federal district court judges. even since president biden has been president, the united states senate has the cloud to go nuclear, as they say, to require just a majority vote on a bill to fund the government last year. they also did it, they went nuclear, they decided to do just a majority vote for a random vote that didn t go anywhere about vaccine