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Harris’ vow to end filibuster for abortion rights faces challenge in her own party

Updated Sep 24, 2024, 4:15pm EDT
politicsNorth America
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.
Craig Hudson/Reuters
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The News

Kamala Harris’ hopes of weakening the filibuster for abortion rights faces a challenge in her own party.

Montana Democrat Jon Tester, the Senate’s most vulnerable incumbent, told Semafor that he supports requiring senators to hold the floor in person while filibustering legislation — the so-called talking filibuster. And he opposes the complete elimination of the chamber’s 60-vote requirement to pass most legislation.

“My stance is this: We need to change the filibuster into a talking filibuster,” he said in an interview last week. “We should not eliminate the filibuster.”

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Harris told Wisconsin Public Radio earlier on Tuesday that “we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe 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.” It’s a position she’s taken in the past, but the first time she reiterated it since replacing President Joe Biden atop the Democratic presidential ticket.

Tester is currently battling GOP challenger Tim Sheehy in a reelection bid that, if he falls short, would likely hand Republicans control of the Senate next year. If he wins, however, his stance would likely chart the course for any Democratic changes to filibuster, including the targeted purpose of writing Roe v. Wade into law.

The Montanan, who has yet to formally endorse Harris, has supported legislation that would enshrine Roe-level abortion rights into law and he also supported filibuster changes tailored to voting rights legislation. His position on requiring a talking filibuster would put the onus on the minority party to bottle up a vote on restoring Roe.

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“I don’t want to make this thing like the House. We shouldn’t allow one person to stop this,” Tester said of Senate legislation. “Make them talk. If they quit talking, vote.”

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Under current filibuster rules, 60 Senate votes are required to advance most legislation to a final vote. Senators seeking to filibuster are not required to hold the floor, and in most cases they can block both opening and closing debate on any one bill, thanks to the chamber’s arcane rules.

Democrats are already guaranteed to lose retiring Independent Sen. Joe Manchin’s seat in West Virginia, and a Tester loss would be the second pickup that Republicans need to take back the majority. Still, the Montanan has said that “I feel really good” about his prospects, and he’s won close races before in his increasingly pro-Trump state.

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to entertain changes to the filibuster on Tuesday, despite forcing a vote on filibuster changes two years ago. “It’s something our caucus will discuss in the next Congress,” he told reporters.

Harris also expressed optimism that her party could hang on in the Senate while reclaiming the House majority in November: “It is well within our reach to hold onto the majority in the Senate and take back the House,” she said.

If the party can’t take unified control of Washington this fall, any abortion-rights legislation is off the table. Even if Democrats can pull off a big win, it would take a herculean effort to get 50 of their senators on board to change the filibuster, given lingering unease within the party about doing so that privately extends beyond Tester.

Manchin, a longtime proponent of preserving the filibuster who’s opposed Democratic abortion-rights bills, told reporters on Tuesday that he would decline to endorse Harris in protest of her support for a Roe carveout.

Meanwhile, GOP leaders are digging in against changes to the filibuster — even if former President Donald Trump wins in November and once again leans on them.

“Once you go down that path, there’s no going back. So I assume [Harris] would do it to federalize elections, expand the Supreme Court: All the stuff that’s on their list,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who is running for GOP leader.

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Notable

  • Tester has maintained his preference for the talking filibuster over elimination of the filibuster since 2022, per the Idaho Capital Sun.
  • Former President Donald Trump has previously pushed his party to end the filibuster to get more GOP legislation passed, but the GOP remains resistant, Axios reported.
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