Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said in a Wisconsin radio interview that aired Tuesday that she supported eliminating the Senate filibuster to pass abortion-rights legislation, reiterating a position that she and President Joe Biden have taken in the past.

“I’ve been very clear: I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris told Wisconsin Public Radio in the interview, which was recorded Monday. “Fifty-one votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.”

Biden, a longtime supporter of Senate traditions who served in the chamber for more than 35 years, first said in 2022 that he would back ending the filibuster — which effectively requires 60 votes to move legislation forward in the Senate — to restore legal abortion access that was eliminated as national law in 2022, when the Supreme Court struck down the Roe V. Wade decision.

Many liberals had pressured Biden to take that stance, noting that their legislation would be stymied if the filibuster stayed in place.

Harris adopted the same position soon after.

Loses key support

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, an independent who considered making a presidential run this year, said Tuesday that he would not endorse Harris after she stated her position.

“Shame on her,” Manchin, who is not running for reelection, told CNN. “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.”

But Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Democrats at the time who have since become independents, would not support such a move.

After publicly weighing his options, Manchin announced in February that he would not make an independent run for the White House. “I will not be a deal breaker or a spoiler,” he said at the time.

After Manchin declined to endorse Harris on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump celebrated in a post on Truth Social, his social media network.

“Congratulations to Senator Joe Manchin for not endorsing Radical Kamala Harris because of her DEATH WISH for the Filibuster and the Rule of Law,” Trump wrote.

Also Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested Democrats would be open to the idea of changing filibuster rules for abortion legislation. “It’s something our caucus will discuss in the next session of Congress,” he told reporters at the Capitol.

He has previously expressed willingness to eliminate the filibuster for voting rights bills.

Harris on abortion

Harris is tacking to the center against Trump after running as a progressive in the 2020 Democratic primary race. Democrats see abortion as a winning issue, however, and Harris has been consistent and outspoken in her view that Congress should pass legislation to codify abortion rights.

Voters have expressed more trust in Harris on abortion than in Trump. She has blamed him for state abortion bans passed after the justices he appointed to the Supreme Court helped overturn Roe. Last week, she traveled to Georgia to speak about abortion rights after the deaths of two women that were reportedly a result of delayed treatment after receiving medication abortions. The state has a six-week abortion ban.

Even without the filibuster, legislation legalizing some form of federal abortion rights would face a steep climb in Congress. There is little agreement over what, exactly, “codifying Roe” would mean in terms of precisely what stage in pregnancy abortion would be permitted.

To pass top priorities like protecting abortion and voting rights, Democrats would need to hold the Senate and then muster enough votes to overcome a filibuster from Republicans. But they face a difficult challenge in maintaining control of the Senate, with tough races in Montana, Ohio and several presidential battleground states.

“We need the votes in Congress,” Harris said in her interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, adding that “it is well within our reach to hold on to the majority in the Senate and take back the House.”