Manchin won’t endorse Harris over vow to gut filibuster to codify abortion rights: ‘Shame on her’
CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris’ vow to gut the Senate’s filibuster rule to pass a bill codifying abortion rights has cost her an endorsement from a leading Senate moderate: Joe Manchin.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ vow to gut the Senate’s filibuster rule to pass a bill codifying abortion rights has cost her an endorsement from a leading Senate moderate: Joe Manchin. The West Virginia independent, one of the staunchest defenders of the potent delay tactic in the Senate, told CNN on Tuesday that he wouldn’t back her candidacy now — despite signaling earlier this month he was getting ready to do so. “Shame on her,” Manchin, who is retiring at year’s end, said in the Capitol. “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.” Now that Harris has vowed to gut the filibuster on this issue, Manchin said he wouldn’t back her for president. “That ain’t going to happen,” he said. “I think that basically can destroy our country, and my country is more important to me than any one person or any one person’s ideology. … I think it’s the most horrible thing.” Manchin, a former Democrat who registered as an independent earlier this year, said he still hasn’t spoken to Harris despite his attempts to do so.
Senate Democrats grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his various controversial statements including his stance on vaccines during his confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, and most left feeling overwhelmingly unsatisfied by the answers they received.
A Nigerian man has been extradited to the US to face charges in the “sextortion” of a South Carolina teen who died by suicide in 2022. Prosecutors allege the scammer posed as a young woman, persuaded 17-year-old Gavin Guffey to send him nude photos and then threatened to publicize them if Guffey didn’t send money.