GOP lawmakers caught on video telling activists to thank Manchin and Sinema for not blowing up the filibuster: ‘Without that we would be dead meat’

• A group of conservatives was caught on tape telling activists to thank Manchin and Sinema for holding firm on the filibuster.
• "Without that we would be dead meat and this thing would be done," a GOP congressman said.
• The filibuster has emerged as a barrier to a major chunk of Biden's agenda.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Several Republican lawmakers were secretly filmed imploring conservative activists to flood a pair of centrist Democrats with messages of gratitude for holding firm on the filibuster, a 60-vote threshold that most bills need to clear the Senate.

It's the latest video posted by Democratic activist Lauren Windsor, only days after posting another one showing a GOP congressman calling for "18 months of chaos" to jam Democrats. Both sets of remarks were made at a June 29 Patriot Voices event attended by a large group of conservatives.

In the newest video, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona said Democrats were "pushing as hard as they can" to enact President Joe Biden's agenda.

"Fortunately for us, the filibuster's still in effect in the Senate. Without that we would be dead meat and this thing would be done," he said in the video. "Then we'd be having a little more frantic discussion than we'd be having today."

-Lauren Windsor (@lawindsor) July 9, 2021

He went on: "But thank goodness for Sinema and Joe Manchin," referring to Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both of whom have resisted a mounting chorus of Democratic calls to abolish the filibuster.

Then Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida urged activists in attendance to call the pair of centrist Democrats and thank them for refusing to blow up the filibuster.

"All of you in this room, people at home on Zoom, let me tell you right now, if you want to do one thing to keep the republic afloat, call Joe Manchin's office, call Kyrsten Sinema's office," he said.

Donald's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Biggs's office declined to comment on the record.

The filibuster has emerged as a barrier to a substantial chunk of Biden's agenda on the economy, voting rights, policing reform, and immigration. Given Democrats' 50-50 majority that relies on a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris, many in the party are calling to get rid of it so they can pass legislation without Republicans.

But Manchin and Sinema have dug in on preserving it. "There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster," Manchin wrote in a Washington Post op-ed in April.

Rick Santorum, a former Republican senator and 2012 presidential candidate, also attended the event. He acknowledged the difficulty Republicans face rolling back social programs once they're in place - a possible reference to their failed attempt to scrap the Affordable Care Act under President Donald Trump in 2017, and others proposing cuts to safety net programs like Medicare and Social Security.

"It's a lot easier to pass giveaways than to take them away. And everybody thinks, 'Oh, well you know, we'll just take them away,'" he said in the video. "No we won't! No we won't."