In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio that aired Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris explicitly called for the elimination of the filibuster — the 60-vote threshold needed to pass major legislation in the U.S. Senate — to restore the abortion protections guaranteed in Roe v. Wade.

What You Need To Know

  • Vice President Kamala Harris explicitly called for the elimination of the Senate filibuster to restore the abortion protections guaranteed in Roe v. Wade in an interview Tuesday

  • It’s Harris’ latest effort to put reproductive rights — an issue that her campaign and other Democrats see as crucial to victory — front and center with just weeks to go until November’s election

  • Harris has promised repeatedly on the campaign trail to sign into law a bill restoring Roe v. Wade and has long criticized former President Donald Trump, her opponent in November’s election, for nominating three of the Supreme Court justices that overturned the landmark ruling in 2022

  • Holding the U.S. Senate could be a tall order for Democrats, who are on the defensive in both battleground states and deep red states like Ohio and Montana that went heavily for Republican Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020

It’s Harris’ latest effort to put reproductive rights — an issue that her campaign and other Democrats see as crucial to victory — front and center with just weeks to go until November’s election.

“I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris told “Wisconsin Today” host Kate Archer Kent, who asked the vice president how she’d get the support of Congress to codify abortion rights. “And get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need 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.”

Harris has promised repeatedly on the campaign trail to sign into law a bill restoring Roe v. Wade and has long criticized former President Donald Trump, her opponent in November’s election, for nominating three of the Supreme Court justices that overturned the landmark ruling in 2022.

Trump, for his part, has boasted of his role in overturning Roe, claiming as recently as Monday night at a rally in Pennsylvania that “everyone” wanted the ruling overturned so the issue of abortion can be returned to the states — despite polls showing widespread support for abortion rights. But he has largely shifted positions on abortion, ranging from not explicitly backing a nationwide ban, which has rankled anti-abortion activists, to saying he will not support a referendum in his new home state of Florida that would codify abortion rights into its constitution.

“All they can talk about is abortion, that’s all they talk about, and it really no longer pertains,” Trump said Monday night as he praised the justices who overturned Roe.

“Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free,” Trump said. “You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”

Harris’ campaign hammered Trump over the comments, with a spokesperson responding, “Women know better – and we will not be silenced, dismissed, ignored or treated like we’re stupid. We will vote like our lives depend on it this November.”

Harris also urged Wisconsin voters to reelect incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin — who is running in November against Republican Eric Hovde — and implored voters to pick Democrats up and down the ballot in order to hold the Senate and win back the House of Representatives.

But even if Baldwin is reelected and Harris prevails in November, holding the U.S. Senate could be a tall order for Democrats, who are on the defensive in both battleground states and deep red states like Ohio and Montana that went heavily for Trump in 2016 and 2020, and have few, if any, pickup opportunities. With the retirement of Democrat-turned-independent West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the seat is widely expected to flip Republican, meaning the GOP needs to flip one more seat for a 50-50 Senate tie and two for an outright majority.

Even murkier still would be if Democrats have enough support to overcome the filibuster, an issue they’ve run into before when trying to pass legislation on issues from abortion protections to voting rights.

With the retirement of Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kysten Sinema, another Democrat-turned-independent who opposed changes to the filibuster, such a move could be possible if the party is able to maintain control of the chamber.

Manchin, who has championed the filibuster, hammered Harris over the comment and said he would not be endorsing her over it.

"Shame on her," Manchin, 77, told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday. "She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. It’s the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then this would be the House on steroids."

Some lawmakers, like Senate Republican Whip John Thune, also criticized Harris over her stance, while others, like Pennsylania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey said it "makes sense to change the rule." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sidestepped the question at a press conference on Tuesday, saying it's "something our caucus will discuss in the next Congress."

But Harris’ announcement about eliminating the filibuster could galvanize some supporters of abortion rights at the ballot box in the fall.

The issue of reproductive rights has been credited with boosting Democrats in the 2022 midterms and referendums protecting abortion access have been successful every time they have been on the ballot since Roe was overturned two years ago, even in bright-red states like Ohio and Kansas.

Nearly a dozen states, including Florida, New York and Missouri, have abortion-related amendments on the ballot in November.