Filibuster

The representative for Georgia said the Democrats' bill aiming to drastically change election and voting laws was "horrible."

Every GOP senator voted against the move to debate the For the People Act. After the filibuster, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: "We will not let it die. This voter suppression cannot stand."

All 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus voted in favor of the bill, including Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin who was considered a lone holdout.

"We thank you for co-sponsoring the Equality Act, and we urge you to take the necessary next step of ending the filibuster so queer and transgender civil rights can pass the Senate and be signed into law," the letter to Sinema, the nation's first openly bisexual senator, reads.

The Arizona senator argued that abolishing the filibuster could lead to reversals of progressive legislation and affect such programs as Medicare or Medicaid.

The coalition of 101 California progression groups pressured Feinstein to support nixing the filibuster ahead of the Senate's Tuesday test vote on the For the People Act.

"How do you go forward right now in this moment in history and not address the terrible climate crisis that we face and transform our energy system?" the Vermont progressive asked Sunday.

On a private call on Monday, Manchin suggested he would be willing to change the Senate rules so Senate Democrats could pass legislation with fewer than the 60 votes currently required by the filibuster.

The New York progressive suggested efforts at bipartisan compromise allow policy to be "defined by a Republican minority that has not been elected to lead."

Manchin penned an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail last week, which explained bluntly "why I'm voting against the For the People Act."

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice backed the Democratic senator for blocking moves to scrap the Senate rule.

A new poll found U.S. voters torn over whether bills should need 60 votes to pass the Senate.

"I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this commonsense bill to ensure a level playing field for everyone, including our top-notch U.S. Women's National Soccer Team," West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin said on Wednesday.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin's meeting with civil rights leaders about proposed voting reform laws and the Senate filibuster was "very productive and very informative," he told reporters after it ended, but it didn't change his mind about either.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin had earlier reaffirmed his position on the filibuster, saying he would not change Senate rules.

"Manchin is not pushing us closer to bipartisanship. He is doing the work of the Republican Party by being an obstructionist, just like they've been since the beginning of Biden's presidency," Bowman told CNN.

"He's doing the right thing, and it's a very important thing," the former president told Fox Business.

"If it comes down to voting rights and the rights of Americans to go to the polls and select their leaders versus the filibuster, I'll choose democracy," said the independent senator from Maine.

"Haven't you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?" the Fox News host asked Manchin.

"Voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen," the West Virginia Democrat wrote.

"To keep the Jim Crow filibuster while losing some of these basic voting rights that are central to our democracy is preposterous," former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods said on Friday.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) on Thursday argued that Democrats would only "need three more" Republicans to join them in order to pass legislation that would form a bipartisan commission to investigate the violent storming of the Capitol on January 6.

"Two members of the Senate...vote more with my Republican friends," the president said Tuesday.

"Using the filibuster to cover up the truth about Jan. 6 is a scandalous abuse of power," the Democratic lawmaker said Sunday.

The senator reiterated that he would not eliminate the filibuster in order to pass the legislation.

The congresswoman said her party needed to push forward with legislation delivering "progress for the American people."

The Democratic senator defended the tactic that makes it difficult to pass legislation in the upper chamber.

The West Virginia senator's comments come as Democratic lawmakers are attempting to pass significant policy changes while maintaining control of both the House of Representatives and Senate.

The Republican senator called on his party to use "all the tools in the toolbox" to curb filibuster reform.

The Senate minority leader praised the Democrat for wanting to keep the filibuster in the upper house.