Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her desire to end the Senate filibuster this week for the codifying of Roe v. Wade into law, a total reversal from her 2017 pledge to preserve the Senate filibuster.
As Breitbart News reported on Tuesday, Kamala Harris called for “the end of the legislative filibuster in the Senate during an appearance on Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday to codify the right to abortion and eliminate state pro-life laws.”
“I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris said. “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.”
This represents yet another flip from Harris on a position she previously held. As Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) shared on social media, Harris signed a letter in 2017 pledging to support the Senate filibuster.
The letter, addressed to then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and then-Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), called for the preservation of “existing rules, practices, and traditions as they pertain to the right of Members to engage in extended debate on legislation before the United States Senate.”
“Senators have expressed a variety of opinions about the appropriateness of limiting debate when we are considering judicial and executive branch nominations,” the letter said. “Regardless of our past disagreements on that issue, we are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor.” It went on:
We are mindful of the unique role the Senate plays in the legislative process, and we are steadfastly committed to ensuring that this great American institution continues to serve as the world’s greatest deliberative body. Therefore, we are asking you to join us in opposing any effort to curtail the existing rights and prerogatives of Senators to engage in full, robust, and extended debate as we consider legislation before this body in the future.
Harris later flipped on this during her 2020 presidential election bid when she called to end the filibuster to pass the radical Green New Deal.