Arizona Democrat Sinema defends filibuster, says 'eroding rules' not solution to Senate gridlock

Sinema said Senators need to "change their behavior and begin to work together," rather than end the fillibuster.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is one of only two Senate Democrats publicly defending the filibuster, as many in her political party aim to remove or limit its use in floor votes.

"When you have a place that’s broken and not working, and many would say that’s the Senate today, I don’t think the solution is to erode the rules," Sinema said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "I think the solution is for senators to change their behavior and begin to work together, which is what the country wants us to do."

The other Senate Democrat is West Virginia's Joe Manchin, who said he is willing to change the filibuster protocols but not end it.

Democrats would like to end the filibuster to effectively allow most legislation to pass by a simple, 51-vote majority, instead of the 60-vote majority. The 100-member Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Democrats holding the tiebreaker with Vice President Kamala Harris.