This is huge:
From the Politico piece:
Facing a pandemic, struggling economy and perhaps myriad other crises, the gridlock that has long gripped the Senate will instantly threaten Biden’s presidency...
“We're going to have a real challenge being able to legislate,” Coons warned in an hourlong interview. “If we're going to legislate durable solutions … we have to be having conversations now about what's the path forward towards a healthier, more functional Senate.”
Coons is known for embracing the centrist, consensus-oriented politics that animate Biden, whose Senate seat he now holds. He’s hopeful that Republicans may be more willing to work with Biden than they did with President Barack Obama. But he also has no illusions about the state of the polarized Senate. And he insists Biden “is not naive.”
Unlike some of his colleagues on the left, Coons doesn’t advocate getting rid of the legislative filibuster. He once even led a letter against scrapping it. But he’s also not ruling it out.
“I will not stand idly by for four years and watch the Biden administration's initiatives blocked at every turn,” Coons said. “I am gonna try really hard to find a path forward that doesn't require removing what's left of the structural guardrails, but if there's a Biden administration, it will be inheriting a mess, at home and abroad. It requires urgent and effective action.”
It’s an acknowledgment of how partisan the Senate has become and signals that aggressive moves may be in store for Capitol Hill if Democrats take back the Senate and the White House and face blanket GOP resistance led by new Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
While I am confident we will a Senate Majority, I don’t think we are going to get 60 votes to bypass a filibuster. Biden already wants to channel his inner FDR to help the country get back on track and the fact that Democrats like Coons are waking up to the reality that they might have to actually make the structural reforms U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. MA) advocated for in the primary. Once we win the White House and the Senate, we will need to push Schumer and Durbin to get the Senate to changed the rules. Until then, let’s make sure we win big first. Click below to donate and get involved with Biden’s campaign and with these Senate Democratic candidates campaigns:
Joe Biden
Chris Coons
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John Hickenlooper
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Sara Gideon
Cal Cunningham
Jon Ossoff
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