Manchin Says He Won't Blow Up Filibuster If Republicans Block January 6 Commission

Reagan McCarthy | May 26, 2021 12:15 PM

Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) doubled down on his commitment to keeping the Senate’s legislative filibuster intact, as the January 6 commission heads to the Senate. Democrats are hoping to bring the House-passed legislation to create a commission on January 6 to the floor next week, but the bill faces an uphill battle to garner GOP support.

Manchin said that even if Republicans block the bill, he will not support blowing up the filibuster.

Just asked Sen. Joe Manchin if he would invoke the nuclear option to blow up the filibuster if Republicans block the Jan. 6 commission bill.

“No,” he told me. “I can’t take the fallout.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 25, 2021

Manchin won’t blow up the filibuster over this but he just put out statement with Sinema saying: “We implore our Senate Republican colleagues to work with us to find a path forward on a commission to examine the events of January 6th.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 25, 2021

Still, Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), are imploring Republicans to support the bipartisan commission.

"We could never have imagined an attack on Congress and our Capitol at the hands of our own citizens. In the hours and days following the attack, Republican and Democratic members of Congress condemned the violence and vowed to hold those responsible accountable so our Democracy will never experience an attack like this again," Manchin and Sinema wrote. "A bipartisan commission to investigate the events of that day has passed the House of Representatives with a bipartisan vote and is a critical step to ensuring our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again."