Arizona Independent Senator Krysten Sinema criticized Vice President Kamala Harris after the presidential nominee voiced her support for eliminating the Senate filibuster in an effort to pass a law restoring abortio protections nationwide.
“To state the supremely obvious, eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v Wade also enables a future Congress to ban all abortion nationwide,” Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in 2022, wrote on X.
“What an absolutely terrible, shortsighted idea,” she added.
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US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a Labor Day event at Northwestern High School in Detroit, Michigan, September 2, 2024. (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.V.), a strong supporter of the filibuster, echoed Sinema’s comments, saying that the filibuster is the “Holy Grail of democracy.”
“Shame on her,” Manchin said at the Capitol, CNN reported. “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.”
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) speaks alongside Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) with reporters in the U.S. Capitol Building on December 20, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Sinema’s sharp criticism came after Harris voiced her thoughts about ending the filibuster on Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR).
The filibuster is a Senate rule that allows a minority to block legislation pending a supermajority vote, so ending it would make it easier to pass laws related to abortion rights.
“I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris said during a WPR interview Tuesday. “And get us to the point where 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.”
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In the interview Harris also said it was “it is well within our reach” to keep a Democratic Senate majority and “take back the House.”
“I would also emphasize that while the presidential election is extremely important and dispositive of where we go moving forward, it also is about what we need to do to hold onto the Senate and win seats in the House,” Harris said.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Harris, who has made abortion access a central issue in her campaign, said in 2022 that Congress needed to codify Roe v Wade into law and, “if the filibuster gets in the way, the Senate needs to make an exception to get it done.”
“With just two more seats in the Senate, we can codify Roe v. Wade, we can put the protection of Roe into law,” Harris said in September 2022. “With two more seats in the United States Senate, we can pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Two more seats.”
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“You know, our President, Joe Biden, he’s been clear. He’s kinda done with those archaic Senate rules that are standing in the way of those two issues,” Harris said of the Senate filibuster in 2022. “He’s made that clear and has said that he will not allow that to obstruct those two issues. And, you know, for me, as vice president, I’m also president of the Senate.… I cannot wait to cast the deciding vote to break the filibuster on voting rights and reproductive rights. I cannot wait! Fifty-nine days.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris waves during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, US, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Democrats would need to maintain control of the Senate to change rules affecting the filibuster.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris campaign and Sen. Sinema’s office for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
