Joe Manchin Vows to 'Protect the Filibuster' After Expressing Openness to Procedural Reform
On 3/10/21 at 6:16 PM EST
Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has reiterated his commitment to "protect the filibuster" despite saying last Sunday that he was open to reforming its use.
Progressive Democrats have supported eliminating the filibuster in order to bypass Republicans opposed to President Joe Biden's legislative agenda. However, Republicans and moderate Democrats, like Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, say that eliminating the filibuster will kill any hope of senatorial bipartisanship.
"I want to make it very clear to everybody," Manchin told Politico on Tuesday. "There's no way that I would vote to prevent the minority from having input into the process in the Senate. That means protecting the filibuster. It must be a process to get to that 60-vote threshold."