Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema ruled out filibuster reform necessary for passing the Democrats’ voting bills, saying she won’t support actions that “worsen the underlying disease of division” in our country.
As Sinema was speaking, several GOP senators were on the floor listening to her speech: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Sens. John Thune (S.D.), Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins (Maine), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Thom Tillis (N.C.).
Senator Joe Manchin also has said he does not support filibuster change, and the Biden-backed effort to do so will need some sort of successful Hail Mary to deliver both Sinema and Manchin’s votes. Democrats haven’t landed on a proposal yet, as Biden was set to meet with Democrats an hour after Sinema aimed a deadly shot at any chance to get the voting rights bills to discussion — which Sinema says she fully supports.
“These state laws have no place in a nation whose government is formed by free, fair and open elections,” Sinema said, while saying they were “symptoms” of bigger divisions with the American political system.
“Threats to American Democracy are real,” she said. “I strongly support those efforts to contest these laws in court.”
