Sen. Chris Murphy doesn’t think Democrats have 60 votes for assault weapons ban
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Monday morning that a Republican filibuster is “obviously going to be a problem” to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.
“The Senate is now halfway through its filibuster season. It’s a long way to 60, but if the Senate doesn’t pass this bill in the next couple days, then it’s going to take a really long time,” Murphy told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” in his first interview since the upper chamber voted 51-49 against his filibuster of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Murphy, who voted against his own filibuster of the bill, said Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is the only Democrat who “repudiates that kind of language.”
“Joe Manchin won’t be able to agree to that,” Murphy said. “The filibuster is going to be a problem. There’s going to be a lot of debate on Capitol Hill.”
Democrats want to allow the Senate to vote on the legislation before June 30, Murphy said, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will block the filibuster and bring the bill up for a vote on the floor shortly after the current government funding deadline ends.
“We didn’t vote to have the filibuster extended. We have an awful lot of Democrats who are not going to agree to extend the filibuster,” he said. “The point is, we’re getting to a point where both political parties have an incentive to do the right thing.”
Murphy told Fox News’ Greta Van Sustern that even if Republicans were to filibuster the bill, Democrats can still pass the bill with a simple majority of 51 votes.
“It’s a long way to 60, but if the Senate doesn’t pass this bill in the next couple days, then it’s going to take a really long time,” he said. “I’m convinced the Senate can get it through the process with a majority. It’s not the easiest
