Steve Daines says filibuster at risk if GOP does not win Senate

Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.), the chair of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, says the GOP needs to win back the majority in the Senate to keep the filibuster intact. 

Daines said Wednesday at an event at The Ripon Society, a conservative-leaning think tank, that Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent from Arizona who was previously a Democrat and mostly votes with other Democrats in the Senate, “saved” the filibuster during this session of Congress. 

The filibuster is a procedural measure in the Senate that requires 60 votes for most legislation to advance to a vote.

In January 2022, Senate Democrats pushed for a change to the filibuster to remove the 60-vote threshold for a vote on a bill about voting rights, but Manchin and Sinema voted with Republicans against the rules change. The pair have heralded their opposition to removing the filibuster, saying they intend to be a moderate force in the upper chamber. 

Daines said he was discussing the filibuster with Manchin on the Senate floor before Christmas, and Manchin indicated that it would likely be removed if Republicans did not take back control of the Senate this November. 

“That’s a sobering thought about what would happen,” Daines said. 

He argued Democrats would seek to pass legislation making Washington, D.C., a state and overhauling federal elections, referencing bills that the House passed when Democrats controlled the chamber.

He also said Manchin and Sinema will both likely not be back in the Senate during the next session. Manchin has already decided against running for another term to his seat, while Sinema has yet to announce if she will run in what would be a highly competitive and expensive Arizona race.

Polls have shown Sinema losing in a hypothetical three-way race against Republican Kari Lake and Democratic Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, who are running for the seat.

Daines said the GOP has the “best map” to pick up seats in a decade but recognized that the party is opposing strong Democratic incumbents who “know how to win in red states.” He emphasized the stakes if Republicans do not take back the Senate in 2024. 

“It’s not just laws they put in place that we could undo someday with the change in majorities, but it’s doing irreparable harm in restructuring and power in this country, will be very difficult to ever, ever get it back,” Daines said.