By: Kate Champion

When Joe Biden entered the White House at the beginning of this year, his top four priorities were Covid-19, climate, racial equality, and the economy. 

Each has been reflected in a major legislative push: Covid in the American Rescue Plan, the economy and climate in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Build Back Better, and racial equality in the dual pieces of voting rights legislation, the For the People Act and Freedom to Vote Act.

Less than a year into his Presidency, President Biden already has two big wins under his belt, and it looks like a third is on the way. 

However, it appears, for now, that a law protecting citizens’ voting rights will not be among his legislative achievements. It has already been defeated twice this year thanks to Republicans employing the filibuster. And while repealing the filibuster, as some Democrats suggest, would give it a chance to pass, with two skeptical Democratic senators and 76% of the electorate opposed to removing the filibuster wholesale, that seems unlikely.

People of color were crucial to the coalition that helped Biden clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination for the Presidency and win last year’s general election. They are also the cohort that are most impacted by, and most invested in, voting rights, with 77% of Black and 63% of Hispanic voters saying that voting is a fundamental right.

President Biden is failing them, having spent the majority of the year paying lip service to the idea that voting rights can be passed while the filibuster remains. 

Or is he?

President Biden has had many chances to come out strongly against the filibuster and hasn’t. For the few of us who want to see the filibuster go, his inaction feels like a failure of leadership. He did finally say he was open to the idea of removing the filibuster last month at a CNN town hall. But given the fact that he has played coy on the issue throughout his campaign, and thus far through most of his presidency, this reversal can feel more like a PR move meant to mollify those of us who want to see voting rights pass than a real change of heart. But I believe this is a signal of what’s to come. Biden is up to something.

What does the President care about? He cares about his legacy. 

This is a man who has tried multiple times for the presidency and failed—until he won. Now, finally, in the twilight of his life he has it, and this is his last chance to make his mark. He cares about Black voters. He knows that winning the South Carolina primary was the turning point in his quest for the Democratic nomination, and he knows it was Black voters who helped him carry the state. He cares about doing what is right. While he may have made poor choices in the past, Biden doesn’t have the same reputation for ruthless calculation as other actors in Washington do. 

Everything that could be motivating President Biden points in the direction of passing voting rights. But he’s refused to tackle the issue of the filibuster. He’s a smart guy who knows that voting rights legislation stands little chance with the filibuster in place.

It’s actually odd that he’s been this inactive on the issue. Biden has generally defined himself as a legislative creature. Almost all his government experience was in the Senate. Even when he became Obama’s VP his role was still mostly defined by wrangling Congress. We can argue about his effectiveness at whipping votes, but the fact remains that is it’s out of character for Biden to be so hands off when it comes to convincing Congress to do something. 

The reason he has been hands off is because he knew the fight had to wait.

On first pass, it might seem like the reason President Biden is against removing the filibuster is because if the Senate flips it would give the Republicans the same power to pass their agenda without opposition. However, all the language Biden has used in describing his reasoning for holding back has been focused on how it would impact his current agenda not on how it might affect some theoretical future Senate. 

Over the summer, when asked about it at a town hall in Cincinnati, the President said that removing the filibuster would “throw the entire Congress into chaos and nothing will get done.” Getting rid of the filibuster would unite the Republicans against his agenda, tanking the potential for the rare bipartisan win that he got with the infrastructure bill. 

It seems the President has been playing the long game. Not focusing on the filibuster allowed him to pass most of his agenda and win some goodwill with voters. When (if) Build Back Better passes will finally present an opportunity for President Biden to come out strongly against the filibuster.

It’s possible that Biden will to continue to sit this fight out because he knows he will never win over Senators Manchin (D-WV) and Sinema (D-AZ). However, the fact that he has so much to gain from passing voting rights and the fact that he has a strong history in negotiating with the Senate, makes me think he is at least going to try and win the votes necessary to remove the provision. 

I have confidence that President Biden will fight for voting rights legislation before his time in office is up. I hope he proves me right.