“If you can make the Senate work better, the rules are something we’ve changed over the years; 232 years, there’s been rule changes,” Mr. Manchin said Sunday on Fox News. But he also suggested that he might be interested in more modest changes than Mr. Schumer and others are contemplating, saying he would continue to support the 60-vote, supermajority threshold to overcome a filibuster.
Ms. Sinema has also drawn a line against partisan changes in the rules, but Democrats say they believe she would not want to be the lone holdout if Mr. Manchin were persuaded to relent on the legislative filibuster.
Democrats knowledgeable about the internal deliberations say that many possible changes are under consideration, including weakening the filibuster against the preliminary “motion to proceed” to bring legislation to the floor for consideration. But in a more significant move, Democrats say they are also discussing a change that would clear the way for final action on a bill through a simple majority vote after guaranteeing opponents the opportunity to alter the legislation through a significant number of amendments.
Instituting such a change would require the support of all 50 Democrats and the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris presiding to break a tie in the 50-50 Senate.
Democrats say such a filibuster “carve out” would apply only to issues grounded in constitutional rights such as voting, but Republicans and others say it would inevitably be extended to other legislation, diminishing the overall power of the filibuster.
The Democratic voting rights and rules change push would meet universal resistance from Republicans. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and minority leader, last week accused Democrats of “rattling swords about changing the structure of the Senate” and commended Mr. Manchin for opposing it.
“Changing the structure of the Senate in order to achieve a partisan advantage is a mistake for the Senate and a mistake for our country,” he said.