“For the last year, my Democratic colleagues have taken to the Senate floor … to argue that repealing the filibuster is restoring the vision the founding fathers intended for this deliberative body.

“The United States Senate has never in 233 years been able to end debate on legislation with a simple majority vote.”.

Manchin admitted sympathy for fellow Democrats fed up with gridlock but said he could not support gutting the Senate’s longstanding filibuster rules, which require 60 votes for most bills to survive in the 100-member chamber.

“Right now, we’re debating a fundamental change in the Senate rules that will forever alter the way this body functions,” he said.

“Allowing one party to exert complete control in the Senate with only a simple majority will only pour fuel on the fire of political whiplash and dysfunction that is tearing this nation apart and you don’t have to look very far to see how we’re tearing ourselves apart.”.

Biden’s partisan voting measures: the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

“If the Senate cannot protect the right to vote, protect the cornerstone of our democracy under the existing rules, then the Senate rules must be reformed,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles E.

“We don’t have to change the rules to make our case to the American people about voting rights,” he said.

Manchin criticized Democratic leaders for accepting defeat on the elections bill and trying to force a vote on changing the filibuster.

Schumer plans to bring up a proposal to replace the filibuster vote with an old-fashioned “talking filibuster,” requiring a senator to hold the floor with a nonstop speech to block legislation from advancing.

Once the speechmaking is exhausted, the legislation would be eligible to pass with a simple majority vote

“We know it’s an uphill fight, but whenever this chamber confronts a question this important, one so vital to our country, you don’t slide it off the table and say never mind,” said Mr