Page 36 - Rules Change News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

What's the plan? >> reporter: an uphill climb indeed, christine. look, he wants january 17th, martin luther king, jr., day, to be the day the senate votes on a rules change, a so-called filibuster carveout, so that they could try to pass voting rights legislation with just a simple majority. so all 50 democratic senators could support with kamala harris being the tie-breaking vote. but there is a problem. senator joe manchin and senator kyrsten sinema do not support the so-called rules change, the filibuster carveout because they believe this could affect the rules of the senate chamber in yea...

Vote of the senate instead of having to clear a 60-vote procedural threshold. and this morning senator schumer and nine democratic senators met with senator joe manchin for an hour to urge him to support that rules change. after that meeting, joe manchin appeared to be undecided about supporting a rules change. >> what'd you make. president's speech last night? >> it was a good speech. he gave a good speech. >> reporter: did it change your opinion at all on the senate rules changes? >> we're talking. >> he understands. we all understand how the senate works. >> i know what you're thinking but ...

The john lewis voting rights advancement exact and the act and the freedom to vote act. they have no way around the 60-vote threshold. senator chuck schumer, the majority leader, plans to call some form of a vote on a rules change, something to pierce the filibuster, to change the rules to allow these two bills to come up for that majority vote threshold. but it's abundantly clear at this point that senator joe manchin and senator kyrsten sinema, although they may support the bills, firmly oppose a change in the rules to allow them to pass. democrats either go home and pull the plug on this ef...

That republicans are unanimously opposed to this voting rights package that democrats are trying to get done. which means if you do want to get it done, democrats would have to change the rules, you would need all democrats to support that. you know that's where this issue s. we heard and i've heard behind the scenes discussion that there are more than just senators manchin and sinema that might oppose a rules change. are you confident that it's just those two who will defect from the democratic position? >> well, again, there are 14 republican who's have voted in the past to expand voting rig...

Don't hear anybody else in the amen chorus right now. i think there's other political work that maybe the democrats would be doing to build grass roots ground swell that if history is any indication, might work in pushing a bill like this forward. >> it's so interesting. watching the senate floor over the last week, there was a lot of debate i heard from republicans saying look, turnout was up. look how easy voting was for so many people even during a pandemic. see, there's no problem that needs solving there. that's the counter messaging. i think your point is well-taken. latasha, i have to a...