Manchin Blasts Cornyn Over Senate Filibuster Reversal

Former Sen. Joe Manchin has sharply criticized Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn for abandoning his long-held support of the Senate filibuster, accusing him of political opportunism amid a heated re-election campaign.

“When I was a U.S. Senator, there was not another person more committed to keeping the filibuster than Senator John Cornyn,” Manchin wrote in a scathing social media post Thursday. The independent former West Virginia senator claimed Cornyn had personally thanked him after Manchin helped defeat a Democratic effort to eliminate the filibuster in early 2022.

The controversy erupted after Cornyn published an op-ed Wednesday calling on Republicans to consider scrapping the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to pass the SAVE (Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility) Act, a Trump-backed election bill requiring voter identification. The legislation faces unified Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Cornyn’s reversal marks a dramatic shift for the veteran lawmaker who previously defended the filibuster as essential to Senate function. In a 2022 floor speech, he warned Democrats against eliminating the rule, saying: “Power is fleeting and at some point the shoe will always be on the other foot. Liberal activists may like the idea of nuking the filibuster today, but they’ll soon find themselves ruing the day their party broke the Senate.”

In his recent op-ed, Cornyn acknowledged his change in position. “For many years, I believed that if the U.S. Senate scrapped the filibuster, Texas and our nation would stand to lose more than we would gain,” he wrote. “But when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.”

The timing of Cornyn’s shift has raised eyebrows, coming as he faces a challenging primary runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. President Donald Trump’s endorsement could prove decisive in the race, and Trump has repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to advance his legislative priorities, including the SAVE Act. Paxton has already expressed support for ending the 60-vote threshold.

Cornyn has denied that his position change is aimed at securing Trump’s endorsement and rejected Manchin’s characterization of their past interactions. “There’s no Joe Manchins left in the Democratic Party and no Kyrsten Sinemas,” Cornyn told reporters, referring to the former Arizona Democratic senator who also opposed changing filibuster rules. “This is an entirely different circumstance, dealing with Democrats who will not negotiate or consider anything that President Trump or Republicans want.”

Manchin, who declined to seek re-election this year after switching from Democrat to independent, has remained a staunch defender of the filibuster. “The filibuster — the soul of the Senate — has preserved the Senate’s role for nearly 250 years as the institution that cools passions, protects minority voices, and demands consensus,” he said in his statement. “America was built on institutions designed to resist political convenience, not surrender to it.”

Despite Cornyn’s advocacy, Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Wednesday that the filibuster is likely to remain intact. “Senator Cornyn is one of 53 Republican senators, and the opposition to nuking the filibuster runs very, very deep in our conference,” Thune told reporters.

The dispute highlights the ongoing tension within the Republican Party between traditional institutional defenders and those aligned with Trump’s more aggressive approach to advancing conservative priorities. It also underscores the heightened political pressures facing GOP senators in competitive races as they navigate loyalty to Trump while maintaining their established policy positions.

For Cornyn, a four-term senator and former Senate Republican whip, the criticism from Manchin represents an unusual public rebuke from a former colleague with whom he once found common ground on procedural matters, if not policy.