A political advocacy group with close ties to Senate GOP leadership launched a $1 million ad campaign Wednesday to pressure Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III into not abandoning his support for the filibuster.
One Nation, which is run by a former top aide to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, launched a series of radio, television and digital ads in Mr. Manchin’s home state of West Virginia on the topic.
The ads juxtapose clips of Mr. Manchin pledging to defend the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold with images of Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.
“D.C. liberals are desperate to enact their radical agenda. So desperate they want to change the Senate rules and eliminate the filibuster,” says a narrator in one ad. “Call Senator Manchin. Tell him to keep his promise. Tell him to protect the Senate filibuster.”
The ads are scheduled to run until Jan. 17 — the same date by which Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer has told lawmakers he will force a vote on changing the Senate’s rules unless Republicans help to pass a partisan rewrite of the nation’s voting laws.
“If Senate Republicans continue to abuse the filibuster to prevent this body from acting, the Senate must adapt,” said Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat.
Democrats have been pushing an ambitious overhaul of the country’s voting laws since President Biden took office a year ago. Their bill would expand vote-by-mail, provide for the taxpayer funding of electoral campaigns, undermine state voter ID laws and impose new restrictions on state redistricting.
The bill, which passed the House last year, has failed in the Senate repeatedly because of a GOP filibuster.
In an effort to secure its passage, Democrats are now considering using a parliamentary procedure to blow up the filibuster by a simple majority vote. Since the Senate is split 50-50, the move would require support from all 50 Senate Democrats and the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The key to unlocking a rules change is Mr. Mancin and other moderate Democrats.
“West Virginians know Senator Manchin as a man of his word who will stand up to Chuck Schumer and the D.C. liberals who want to dictate West Virginia’s election laws and take away our freedom,” said Steven Law, the president of One Nation and former chief of staff to Mr. McConnell.
At the moment, Mr. Manchin is taking a wait-and-see approach. The West Virginia Democrat is holding discussions with both Democrats and Republicans on how to change the Senate’s rules.
Mr. Manchin has expressed skepticism, however, about gutting the filibuster or supporting a major change without GOP buy-in.
“I think the filibuster needs to stay in place, any way, shape or form that we can do it,” he said. “I don’t intend to do anything that divides our country anymore.”
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
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