Democrats' filibuster gambit unravels | TheHill

“Eliminating the 60-vote threshold will simply guarantee that we lose a critical tool that we need to safeguard our democracy.” Sen. Joe ManchinJoe ManchinManchin says he won't vote to 'eliminate or weaken the filibuster' Democracy is on life support — and the GOP wants to pull the plug Biden: 'I don't know whether we can get this done' MORE (D-W.Va.) piled on Thursday afternoon, saying that “I will not vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster” and that doing so would “pour fuel onto the fire of political whiplash and dysfunction that is tearing this nation apart.” The remarks from the two moderate senators, though not out of line with their months-long position, underscored that Democrats’ bid to change the legislative filibuster have hit a wall. Biden talked about the history of rules changes during the closed-door lunch making the point, according to Sen. Tim KaineTimothy (Tim) Michael KaineBiden to huddle with Senate Democrats as voting bill on brink of defeat Dems worry they'll be boxed out without changes to filibuster, voting rules  Democrats face moment of truth in filibuster fight   MORE (D-Va.), that “the Senate rules are not sacrosanct.” But without a shift from Manchin or Sinema on changing the filibuster, and using the “nuclear option” to do so without GOP support, voting rights legislation is facing a dead end. Sen. Jon TesterJonathan (Jon) TesterBiden: 'I don't know whether we can get this done' Biden to huddle with Senate Democrats as voting bill on brink of defeat Manchin doubles down on filibuster ahead of Biden's speech  MORE (D-Mont.), who, like Kaine, has led the voting rights discussions, said that Democrats will start debate and “everything after that I think is up in the air.”  Sen. Chris CoonsChris Andrew CoonsSen. Rob Portman announces positive COVID-19 test Ukraine president, US lawmakers huddle amid tensions with Russia Harris tests negative for COVID-19 after close contact with aide MORE (D-Del.), a close Biden ally, said that "the next couple of days it's unclear to me what exactly is going to happen at what time." Asked if he thought Manchin and Sinema were still open, he demurred. “Of course, to ultimately end debate and pass the voting rights legislation, we will need 10 Republicans to join us — which we know from past experience will not happen — or we will need to change the Senate rules as has been done many times before,” Schumer wrote in the memo to Democratic senators.