SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Kamala Harris is open to doing away with the filibuster if Democrats recapture control of the Senate next year.
“I want to find common ground on legislation, but if there’s gonna be the obstructionist kind of tactics we’ve seen, then I’ll get rid of it,” the senator from California and 2020 presidential candidate told reporters Thursday during a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa.
Kamala Harris to reporters: “I want to find common ground on legislation, but if there’s gonna be the obstructionist kind of tactics we’ve seen, then I’ll get rid of it.” https://t.co/X96LourGIR
— Corey Ciorciari (@CoreyCiorciari) August 8, 2019
Nixing the filibuster from Senate procedure would allow certain bills and confirmations to pass the chamber with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote threshold. Democrats vying for the White House have been pushed to take positions on whether it should stay or go as they grapple with the prospect of becoming president but having their liberal legislative agenda stonewalled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, if the Kentucky Republican remains atop the chamber after the 2020 elections.
Harris has previously said she was “conflicted” over the future of the filibuster, given it’s one of the few ways minority party lawmakers can influence the process. Of the seven senators running for the White House, only Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has come out ardently in favor of the reform. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who represented Delaware in the Senate for 36 years, is among those opposed to the change.
Harris, who on Thursday embarked on a five-day bus tour of the Hawkeye State coinciding with the Iowa State Fair, also told reporters she “was not aware” the reverend of a church she attended last weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, once said homosexuality is “enough to send you to hell.” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker worshipped at Victory Missionary Baptist Church with Harris on Sunday, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders held a town hall there last month.
“And of course I do not condone, in any way, that kind of perspective or language,” she said.
I asked Kamala Harris about Rev. Robert E. Fowler, whom she met with Sunday in Vegas, and who’s called homosexuality a sin akin to child molestation- she told me, “I was not aware that he did that, and of course I do not condone, in any way, that kind of perspective or language.” pic.twitter.com/9RtIOAZvQv
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) August 8, 2019
