6 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pressure is growing among President Joe Biden’s Democrats to end the filibuster, a long-standing Senate custom that requires a supermajority to advance most legislation in a chamber that in recent years has been closely divided and is now split 50/50 between the two parties.
As long as the filibuster exists, liberal Democrats say, Republicans in the chamber that likes to call itself “the world’s greatest deliberative body” will be able to use it to block progress on their priorities, including addressing climate change, voting rights and immigration.
WHAT IS THE FILIBUSTER?
To “filibuster” means to delay action on a bill or other issue by talking.
4 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to join Democrats in ending their self-imposed ban on earmarks and resume the controversial practice of allowing lawmakers to add pet projects to spending bills.
FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Capitol dome is pictured in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/
The move comes as Congress prepares to take up a number of spending bills, as well as an expected infrastructure package sought by Democratic President Joe Biden that could be worth as much as $2 trillion over 10 years.
The decision signals a Republican willingness to negotiate with Democrats on the details of a massive infrastructure package and the federal budget.
5 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Tuesday backed reforming, rather than scrapping, the filibuster after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Democrats that ending the long-standing Senate procedure that can block partisan legislation would bring the Democratic president’s agenda to a standstill.
Top Democrats, including the two highest-ranking party members in the Senate, have stepped up rhetoric in recent days about the future of the filibuster, which requires support from 60 of the chamber’s 100 members to pass most legislation effectively giving power to the minority party in a closely-divided chamber.
The parliamentary custom has long been seen as a mechanism requiring bipartisan consensus that distinguishes the Senate from the House of Representatives, where only a simple majority is needed to pass legislation. But with the Senate riven by a rancorous partisan divide, consensus has become an increasingly elusive goal.
7 Min Read
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican voters in the United States are increasingly hostile toward illegal immigrants, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, an unease that the Republican Party is moving to capitalize on in its bid to retake Congress.
A general view shows a section of the border wall in El Paso, Texas, U.S., during a sandstorm, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico March 16, 2021. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
The poll findings, based on surveys conducted before and after Donald Trump’s presidency, show that Republicans are becoming more unified around the former president’s hardline views on immigration, even as the rest of the country has become more welcoming.
3 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service said on Wednesday it was extending the federal income tax filing and payment deadline by about a month until May 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic, bowing to pressure from congressional Democrats.
A security camera hangs near a corner of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington May 27, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
In a statement, the IRS said the extension would be automatic, with no need to file any forms and no penalties or interest on taxes due that are paid between April 15 and May 17.
The move marked a reversal of the IRS’ earlier stance, which was to maintain as normal a tax-filing season as possible in order to speed refunds to households. A year ago, as coronavirus lockdowns began, the IRS delayed the filing and tax payment deadline by three months, to July 15.