Harris backs eliminating filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade
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Vice President Harris during an event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on Sept. 20 in Atlanta, Ga. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Vice President Harris told Wisconsin Public Radio that she supports eliminating the Senate filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade.
Why it matters: Harris' comments are the latest example of the Democratic presidential nominee trying to distinguish herself from former President Trump on the politically potent topic of abortion, viewed as a weak spot for Republicans.
- As the nominee, Harris had, until now, not said publicly whether she would support bypassing the filibuster rule — which requires 60 votes for passage of most major legislation — to enshrine abortion rights into federal law.
Driving the news: "I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe," Harris told the radio station in an interview that aired Tuesday.
- That way, she added, "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."
Zoom in: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) signaled last month that he'd consider eliminating the filibuster on votes aimed at protecting abortion access if Democrats keep the majority.
- The prospect of further weakening a long-standing Senate rule threatens to divide Democrats.
- But earlier this month, Axios reported that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has long been skeptical of eliminating the filibuster, said he is willing to carve out an exception for abortion rights.
Zoom out: Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.)., both staunch filibuster defenders, affirmed their stances Tuesday following Harris' remarks.
- Both Manchin and Sinema are retiring from the Senate in January, giving Democrats renewed optimism that they may have a chance at chipping away at the filibuster next year.
What they're saying: "To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide," Sinema wrote on X. "What an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea."
- Manchin told CNN that he won't endorse Harris following her comments. "She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy," he said.
- "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."
Flashback: Biden, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, said that he supported changing the Senate's filibuster rules to enable Congress to pass a federal law codifying Roe.
- Harris has also previously expressed support for ending the filibuster for votes on voting rights and abortion rights, but she hadn't signaled her positioning since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
Go deeper: Schumer floats history-making votes on abortion and voting rights
Editor's note: Updated with additional reporting. An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect that it takes 60 votes (not a two-thirds majority) to overcome a filibuster.
