Sens. Joe Manchin (I-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), both former Democrats who are not running for reelection this year, have turned against Vice President Kamala Harris after she declared her support for eliminating the filibuster — a rule that requires a 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation in the Senate.
Of course, the issue that Harris cited in her demand to end the filibuster is the Democrats’ favorite obsession: murdering unborn babies.
On Tuesday, Harris said, “I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe, and get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do,” according to Politico.
LISTEN: Kamala Harris supports eliminating the filibuster to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.
Harris would overturn a key component of our legislature to impose her radical abortion-on-demand agenda.pic.twitter.com/dgGh0iElWX
— Faith & Freedom (@FaithandFreedom) September 24, 2024
The filibuster was initially a practice that involved a senator or group of senators exercising their right to unlimited debate on an issue, speaking constantly for hours or even days to prevent a vote from occurring. To overcome this filibuster initially required a two-thirds vote of the Senate, forcing compromise on the issue at hand between the two parties. That threshold was later reduced to 60 votes, while also allowing for a “silent filibuster” that does not require senators to speak constantly to prevent the vote.
The filibuster is an essential part of the Senate, distinguishing it as a different elected body than the House, which simply requires a majority vote. Eliminating the filibuster would effectively put an end to the need for compromise within the Senate and allow increasingly radical legislation to pass through with just a simple majority. As Democrats are notoriously short-sighted, they don’t seem to realize that putting an end to the filibuster will almost certainly backfire on them, just as it has done in the past.
Manchin highlighted this obvious backfire in his condemnation of Harris’ comments.
According to CNN reporter Manu Raju, the outgoing West Virginia senator stated: “Shame on her. She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. It’s the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then this would be the House on steroids.”
Manchin went on to declare that he would not be endorsing Harris in the November election because of this, stating: “I think that basically can destroy our country and my country is more important to me than any one person or any one person’s ideology…I think it’s the most horrible thing.”
New — Joe Manchin, a staunch defender of the filibuster, tells us he WON’T endorse Kamala Harris now over her vow to gut the filibuster to codify Roe.
“Shame on her," Manchin, who is retiring at year's end, said in the Capitol. "She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of…
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 24, 2024
Sinema responded to Harris’ comments in a post on X, calling it a “terrible, shortsighted” position.
“To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide,” she wrote. “What an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea.”
To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide.
What an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea. https://t.co/ldzTB9BkV7
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) September 24, 2024
