"Shame on her": Manchin says he won't endorse Harris over her vow to gut filibuster to codify abortion rights
Vice President Kamala Harris’ vow to gut the Senate’s filibuster rule to pass a bill codifying abortion rights has cost her an endorsement from Sen. Joe Manchin, a leading moderate in the chamber.
The West Virginia independent, one of the staunchest defenders of the potent delay tactic, told CNN on Tuesday that he wouldn’t back her candidacy now — despite signaling earlier this month he was getting ready to do so.
“Shame on her,” Manchin, who is retiring at year’s end, said in the US Capitol. “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.”
Now that Harris has vowed to gut the filibuster on this issue, Manchin said he wouldn’t back her for president.
“That ain’t going to happen,” he said. “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.”
Senate GOP Whip John Thune also slammed Harris’ stance and vowed to preserve the delay tactic if he is elected as majority leader.
With Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stepping down, Thune is one of the three Senate Republicans running for his perch atop the Senate GOP.
A polarizing issue: Defenders of the filibuster say preserving the tool forces consensus in the body, unlike in the House where legislation can be rammed through by a majority vote. But critics say the tactic has been abused to prevent the Senate from acting on legislation backed by large swaths of the American public.
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