Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Tuesday he does not support calls from fellow Democrats to expand the Supreme Court and will not agree to it, even if his party balances control of the Senate by capturing both seats in January's runoff races in Georgia.
"With packing the courts, I'm not voting for that," Manchin told CNN's "New Day" about calls to add justices to fight back against the court's conservative majority after the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett just before the election.
If Democrats take the two seats in Georgia, the Senate will be split by 50-50, with Kamala Harris, if she is sworn in as vice president, to act as the tiebreaker when needed.
The runoffs were ordered after none of the candidates seeking a Senate victory netted 50% of the vote in the Nov. 3 election. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., who is seeking a second term, received 49.73% of the vote in one of the races, compared to Democrat Jon Ossoff, who got 47.95%.
In the other contest, Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock got 32.9% to Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler's 25.91%. A third Republican, Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., failed to make the runoff after coming in third with 19.95%.
Manchin said Tuesday he is trying to stop the fears and "scare tactics" that are being used in Georgia over the election.
He also said he will not vote to stop the Senate's 60-vote requirement necessary to break a filibuster, "because that means that we've given up on the Senate. It's supposed to work in a bipartisan way. I would never do that."
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