Jim Clyburn Hopes Manchin ‘Would Not Be an Obstacle Now’

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) is weighing in on Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W. Va.) stance on the filibuster.

Manchin, a moderate, indicated in a recent op-ed published by The Washington Post that he will not vote to eliminate the filibuster.

“The filibuster is a critical tool to protecting that input and our democratic form of government. That is why I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt: There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,” Manchin wrote.

Manchin is seen as a “Democratic obstacle for the White House and House Democrats getting their agenda through,” as CNN’s “New Day” co-anchor John Berman put it.

After noting he will be meeting with Manchin when they return to Washington, D.C., Clyburn said, “I’ve always seen him as a partner. I’ve never seen him as an obstacle before. And I would hope that he would not be an obstacle now.”

Last month, Clyburn severely criticized the Senate filibuster, saying it was being used to “block any legislation designed to protect the voting and civil rights of our country’s minority citizens as we continue our pursuit toward the fulfillment of liberty and justice for all.”

Watch Clyburn’s interview below:

Regarding the filibuster, Manchin declared he is “not killing” it, during an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

The filibuster “is a Senate rule that essentially requires 60 votes to pass most legislation (for example, the measures Democrats can’t get through using reconciliation, like a minimum-wage increase or immigration reform),” as The Washington Post notes.

The Post adds, “A senator can simply indicate his intent to filibuster a bill and cause it to be sidelined. That means, in the current Senate, all it takes is one Republican to object to a Democratic-sponsored bill and that bill is stopped in its tracks before ever getting to a final floor vote.”

“They can make all of these changes if they try to work towards the middle. You can’t work in the fringes,” Manchin said.

Clyburn also noted Manchin’s recent remarks where he said the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 “changed” him, saying, “Well it changed me as well.”

“I want to remind him of what some of those insurrectionists were saying to those African American law officers who were out there,” the Democratic lawmaker said, before adding, “I want to know how does that man compromise in such a situation. How would he have me compromise in such a situation?”

“You can’t have this many people split to where they want to go to war with each other,” Manchin said during his CNN interview.