Kirsten Gillibrand Hounds Joe Manchin on Senate Floor Over Paid Family Leave: ‘I Just Want It in This Bill!’

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) took another run at Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on the Senate floor on Thursday over his opposition to paid family leave, which he succeeded in getting removed from the Democrats’ reconciliation bill. Initially, many Democrats were hoping for 12 weeks of leave, but it was eventually pared to four. Now it’s out of the bill entirely.

In a 50-50 Senate, Democrats need all their members to vote for the bill so Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the deciding “yes” vote. No Senate Republicans is expected to vote for the bill. Manchin in particular has been willing to hang his vote over his colleagues’ heads like the Sword of Damocles.

Gillibrand and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) unsuccessfully implored Manchin on Wednesday to allow family leave back in the bill.

In this time-lapsed vide from Wednesday, Gillibrand can be seen waiting on the Senate floor for Manchin to cast a vote on an unrelated matter. Toward the end of the video, she approaches Manchin and ends up following him.

Thursday brought a similar visual. Gillibrand can be seen speaking to Manchin in front of the dais. At one point, Manchin attempts to walk away and interact with other senators, but Gillibrand stops him. Eventually, Manchin leaves the chamber with Gillibrand in tow, who repeatedly patted him on the back with both hands.

According to Andrew Solender of Axios, Gillibrand told Manchin, “If you let me write it, I will write it. I just want it in this bill!” She told her Democratic colleague, “It’s so cheap!”

Apparently, Gillibrand made some headway:

Solender also reported Gillibrand pledged to be unrelenting on the issue. “I’m going to keep proposing versions that he might be able to accept until I can get him to ‘yes.'”

She added, “I just came up with a new idea, and I’m going to work on some work today to see if I can present it to him tomorrow.”

Watch above via C-SPAN2.