Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., said Tuesday he would not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president after she vowed to end the filibuster to pass a bill that would codify abortion rights, CNN reported.
Manchin, a strong defender of the delay tactic, said, "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."
He added, "If she gets rid of that, then this would be the House on steroids."
Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent who is retiring at the end of the year, suggested earlier this month he may back Harris. But now, he said, "That ain't going to happen."
"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," Manchin told CNN.
In a radio interview this week, Harris said, "We should eliminate the filibuster for Roe."
Such a move would lower the vote requirement for passing abortion legislation from 60 to a simple majority of 51.
Manchin and other filibuster supporters say it helps foster compromise in the Senate and prevents decisions from being made too quickly without debate. But critics say it's been abused to prevent the Senate from acting on legislation.
"I believe for a long time that the 60-vote rule has been an impediment to progress on a whole host of fronts, including voting rights, gun control, and abortion," one of those critics, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said.
But Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., said in an X post Tuesday that calling for an end to the filibuster is a "terrible, short-sighted idea b/c it then opens door to Republicans down the road using same maneuver as precedent to BAN abortion."
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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