Sinema and Manchin Effectively End Democrats’ Hopes of Reforming the Filibuster to Codify Roe, Despite Biden’s Support

Arizona Democrat, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), poured cold water Thursday on the Democrat’s hopes to codify Roe v. Wade by reforming the Senate filibuster to get around the 60-vote threshold otherwise needed to pass such legislation.

CNN anchor Ana Cabrera reported that Sinema’s office told her, that despite President Joe Biden supporting such an effort, the senator “is still opposed to gutting the filibuster on any topic including on reproductive rights.”

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s office says the Democratic senator is still opposed to gutting the filibuster on any topic including on reproductive rights.

— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) June 30, 2022

Sinema’s announcement comes after moderate West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin (D-WV) made a similar comment.

“I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade into law. And the way to do that is to make sure Congress votes to do that,” Biden said Wednesday while attending a NATO summit in Europe.

“And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, it should be—we provide an exception for this, should require an exception to the filibuster for this action, to deal with the Supreme Court decision,” the president added.

Reuters noted that Biden’s statement came on the heels of harsh comments from within his own party that the president was not doing enough and had not done enough to uphold abortion rights for all Americans.

“There has been pressure building up to act and show that we are doing more,” an administration source told Reuters on the condition of anonymity. “The president has always believed something must be done.”

Sinema and Manchin refusing to reform the filibuster to codify Roe all but ends any chances of the Democrats, which control the House and Senate by slim majorities, passing comprehensive legislation upholding full abortion rights equal to those granted under Roe v. Wade, which was overturned this month by the Supreme Court.

A simple majority vote in the Senate can be used to remove the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote super-majority to break so that legislation may advance.

The filibuster has been removed by both parties in recent years to advance their political goals, Reuters summarizes:

In 2013, Democrats removed the 60-vote threshold for voting on most nominees for administration jobs, apart from the Supreme Court, allowing them to advance on a simple majority vote.

In 2017, Republicans did the same thing for Supreme Court nominees, enabling them to install a 6-3 conservative majority on the nation’s highest judicial body.