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Biden endorses filibuster exception to codify Roe v. Wade as Breyer retires

Jun 30, 2022

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Speaking at the end of his time at this week’s NATO summit, President Joe Biden floated the idea of a filibuster exception in order to codify Roe v. Wade. Thursday’s comments came less than a week after the Supreme Court issued a ruling overturning Roe.

“I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law. And the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,” President Biden said. “If the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights. It should be…requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”

As President Biden mentioned, he supported filibuster reform in the hopes of pushing forward previously-stalled voting legislation earlier this year. That effort ended up failing. Although Democrats control the Senate, there wasn’t enough support within their caucus to change the filibuster rule. At least two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), don’t support changing filibuster rules.

Thursday’s news conference where Biden endorsed a filibuster exception became the latest opportunity for him to criticize the Supreme Court decision on Roe.

“The one thing that has been destabilizing is the outrageous behavior of the Supreme Court of the United States on overruling not only Roe v. Wade, but essentially challenging the right to privacy,” Biden said. “We’ve been a leader in the world in terms of personal rights and privacy rights, and it is a mistake, in my view, for the Supreme Court to do what it did.”

The overturning of Roe was one of the last Supreme Court decisions made with Justice Stephen Breyer on the bench. The Court’s last decisions of the current term were made public Thursday, with Breyer officially retiring at noon EST.

His replacement, Ketanji Brown Jackson, was sworn in minutes later, making her the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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President Joe Biden:”I believe we have to codify Roe v Wade in the law. And the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that. And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights. It should be, we provide an exception for this, the… requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action.”
Jimmie Johnson: THAT WAS PRESIDENT BIDEN — ENDORSING THE IDEA OF BYPASSING THE FILIBUSTER IN ORDER TO CODIFY ROE V. WADE.
HE WAS ASKED ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT’S RULING THAT OVERTURNED ROE AT THE END OF THIS WEEK’S NATO SUMMIT.
President Joe Biden: “But the first and foremost thing we should do is make it clear how outrageous this decision was and how much it impacts, not just on woman’s right to choose, which is a critical, critical piece, but on privacy generally.”
Jimmie Johnson: THE RULING WAS ONE OF THE LAST SUPREME COURT DECISIONS MADE WITH JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER.
BREYER RETIRED TODAY AT NOON AFTER NEARLY 30 YEARS ON THE BENCH.
HIS REPLACEMENT- KETANJI BROWN JACKSON- WAS THEN SWORN IN.
THE COURT IS NOW OFFICIALLY IN SUMMER RECESS.
THEY WILL RESUME HEARING ARGUMENTS AGAIN IN OCTOBER.