Ocasio-Cortez slams Sinema on filibuster stance following leaked draft SCOTUS opinion

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to task over her position on the Senate filibuster following the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, calling her an “obstructionist” and saying she should face a primary challenger.

“We could protect Roe tomorrow, but Sinema refuses to act on the filibuster,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet Tuesday. “Until that changes she can take a seat talking about ‘women’s access to health care.'”

“Hold everyone contributing to this disaster accountable, GOP & Dem obstructionists included. She should be primaried,” she continued.

This comes after Politico Monday evening published a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that indicated the Supreme Court is poised to effectively eliminate federal abortion protections by overturning the high court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established the federal right to abortion, as well as its 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Ocasio-Cortez was responding to Sinema’s statement on the leaked document in which the senator condemned the draft opinion but defended her opposition to amending the filibuster rule amid calls from some members of the Senate Democratic Caucus to eliminate the measure in order to pass legislation codifying federal abortion rights. Sinema implied that her stance would not change on the issue, saying in her statement that “protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women’s access to health care have been used half-a-dozen times in the past ten years, and are more important now than ever.”

Ocasio-Cortez also went after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday for his position against reforming the filibuster.

“As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion — they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights,” she wrote in a tweet.

“Manchin is blocking Congress codifying Roe. House has seemingly forgotten about Clarence Thomas. These 2 points must change,” the congresswoman concluded.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that he plans to introduce legislation on the Senate floor to codify federal abortion rights, but members of the Democratic caucus have acknowledged that such a bill is unlikely to pass under current filibuster rules, which require most bills to obtain a three-fifths majority of 60 votes, in the currently evenly divided Senate.