Vulnerable Democrat senators have a history of supporting eliminating the legislative filibuster that VP Kamala Harris recently threw her support behind to pass abortion laws.
Vice President Harris’ controversial filibuster comment isn’t out of line with a group of vulnerable Democrat senators vying to keep their seats in the upper chamber who are also willing to do away with the legislative filibuster.
In fact, Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Bob Casey, D-Pa., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., all voted to change the rules in 2022 to allow a bill that would loosen federal voting requirements to be passed by a simple majority, which Democrats had in the Senate.
“I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris, a former senator, told Wisconsin Public Radio this week, referencing changing Senate rules to codify the precedent set in Roe v. Wade into law and protect the ability to get an abortion federally.
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Immediately afterward, Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., said he would not endorse her for president: “I’m not endorsing her,” he told Fox News.
The legislative filibuster requires 60 votes to end debate on a bill and advance to a final vote. If a measure is unable to meet this threshold on a cloture vote, it cannot move forward for final passage consideration.
In 2022, both moderate Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Manchin bucked Democrats to join Republicans in preventing the rule change that would have allowed Democrats to pass the voting requirements bill with the party’s razor-thin majority. The senators were both Democrats at the time but subsequently left the party to become independents. They each later announced they wouldn’t seek re-election.
Ahead of the filibuster standoff, Brown told one outlet in 2020, “We’ve got to eliminate the filibuster.”
Rosen remarked to another in 2021 that she supported suspending the filibuster’s rules “in the case of protecting democracy,” such as passing the voting requirements bill.
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Also in 2021, Casey said the threshold was “an arcane Senate procedure” and added, “If the choice comes down to the filibuster or democracy, I know which side I’m on.”
Tester told MSNBC during the same summer that if the filibuster continued being “weaponized,” he would be left with few choices.
Baldwin backed scrapping the legislative filibuster as far back as 2013, co-sponsoring a bill to do so at the time and reinstitute a “talking filibuster.” Under this change, the 60-vote threshold or legislative filibuster would be eliminated and those who want to filibuster a measure would be required to speak on the chamber floor. If and when those lawmakers stop speaking, a final vote by simple majority would take place.
A spokesperson told Fox News Digital earlier in the year that “Senator Tester does not support ending the filibuster.”
But Tester told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, “Talking filibuster, that’s what I want, period.”
The talking filibuster would effectively eliminate the current legislative filibuster.
Casey also reiterated his interest in voting on the 60-vote rule to Fox News Digital in the spring.
Baldwin on Wednesday told Fox News Digital she agreed with Harris’ recent comment and still backs returning to the talking filibuster.
In response to their interest in a talking filibuster, Manchin told Fox News Digital, “There’s only one filibuster, 60-vote threshold.”
Both Brown and Rosen ignored questions about whether they agreed with Harris’ comment from Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
Representatives for Casey, Rosen and Brown did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital regarding whether they agreed with Harris or if their positions had changed.
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Tester is considered the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election as top political handicappers predict a Republican win and polls show the Montana senator losing traction.
The Ohio race is considered a toss-up by the Cook Political Report as Brown competes to keep his seat.
Baldwin, Casey and Rosen’s races in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada are rated “Lean Democrat.”
In 2021, voters were somewhat divided on the filibuster and many were unsure what they thought about it. According to an April 2021 Fox News Poll, 27% supported eliminating the filibuster while 29% opposed doing so. However, 39% didn’t have an opinion at all.
In the aftermath of the dispute over Senate rules in early 2022, even fewer voters reported having an opinion. In a July 2022 Fox News Poll, those who supported eliminating the filibuster and those who opposed it were tied at 26% each, while nearly half, at 47%, said they didn’t have an opinion.
