Democratic Senator Manchin from West Virginia Promises Not to Vote to Pack the Court or to End the Fillibuster

Democratic Senator for West Virginia Joe Manchin appeared on Fox News’ “Special Report” with host Brit Hume. During the segment he promised he would not vote to pack the court, end the filibuster, or other things that Democrats have either vowed to do or is generally associated as being a Democratic idea.

He said that if Democrats take the Senate and they try to do these things he would not be the 50th Democrat to vote in favor of it. Democrats are set to have 48 Senate seats in January and are in a hard battle in Georgia to gain two more, which would give them control of the Senate. During the same interview, he relayed opposition to other Democrat initiatives like defunding the police, Medicare for all, and even the Green New Deal.

Manchin talked about the potential of their being a 50-50 split in the Senate with the vice president as the tie breaker. He said that if Democrats lose one senator they will not be able to pass anything. Then he said,

“I commit to you tonight, and I commit to all of your viewers and everyone else that’s watching, I want to allay those fears, I want to rest those fears for you right now. Because when they talk about, whether it be packing the courts or ending the filibuster, I will not vote to do that. I will not vote to pack the courts. I think — and I will not vote to end the filibuster. … I will not be the 50th Democrat voting to end that filibuster or to basically stack the court,”

He continued on to say, “And in all the other things you’re hearing about, Bret, also, defund the police. I don’t know of any of the Democrats in the caucus that are for defunding the police. We’re not for that whatsoever. And when they talk about basically, Medicare for all, we can’t even pay for Medicare for some. It doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Manchin also said that Democrats are commonly associated with supporting things like the Green New Deal, but he said that he does not. He called it “crazy stuff”. He was pressed about what he would do if Democrats tried to use the nuclear option to nix the filibuster and he replied, “Absolutely. I will vote against that.”

Sources: Breitbart, The Hill; Photo-CNN