Kamala Harris says she 'cannot wait to cast the deciding vote to break the filibuster on voting rights and reproductive rights'
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
- Harris said she's looking forward to casting a tiebreaking vote in the Senate on reproductive and voting rights.
- Harris told NBC News's "Meet the Press" that Biden would sign laws on those issues despite filibusters.
- She said the filibuster would most likely not be completely eliminated in the future.
Vice President Kamala Harris said she's looking forward to casting the tiebreaking vote in the Senate on voting and reproductive rights.
"For me, as Vice President, I'm also president of the Senate. And — in our first year in office, some of the historians here may know I actually broke John Adams's record of casting the most tiebreaking votes in a single term. How about that? How about that?" Harris said during remarks to the Democratic National Committee on Saturday.
She added: "And so, that being the case, I cannot wait to cast the deciding vote to break the filibuster on voting rights and reproductive rights. I cannot wait. Fifty-nine days. Fifty-nine days."
During an interview with NBC News's "Meet the Press," Harris said, that President Joe Biden won't let the filibuster "get in the way" of him signing the Women's Health Protection Act if it passes through a Senate majority vote.
The bill would neutralize state bans and toss out state regulations. The US House passed the Women's Health Protection Act in September 2021 by a 218-211 vote. It failed when it went before the Senate in February months before the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 landmark decision that made abortions legal up until 24 weeks in June.
Harris said Democrats will need to hold on to the Senate and win two more seats to pass the bill.
"And then we can put into law the protections of Roe v. Wade," she said.
However, when host Chuck Todd, questioned Harris if the Democrats would get rid of the legislative filibuster altogether if they win a majority in the Senate, Harris said it's "very likely" to remain in place for other issues.
She said the carve out would be for reproductive and voting rights.