McConnell reportedly wants GOP senators to praise Manchin and Sinema, so they won't move to scrap filibuster

• McConnell wants GOP senators to say nice things about Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, per Politico.
• He said the Democratic pair are under pressure to scrap the filibuster, which he needs to preserve as a block on Biden's agenda.
• Manchin and Sinema are emerging as key swing votes in Democrats' razor-thin Senate majority.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly pushing GOP senators to praise Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona as they come under pressure to support scrapping the filibuster.

Politico reported that McConnell told Republicans during their Wednesday caucus lunch that the Democratic pair could "save this institution" with their opposition to toss out the 60-vote threshold that most bills now need to clear.

Many Democrats, particularly on the left, want President Joe Biden to eliminate the filibuster, so they can approve bills on voting rights and immigration with only a simple majority of 51 votes. They can use reconciliation to sidestep Republicans on budgetary bills, but those must conform with strict rules and can be used just a limited number of times per year.

"What they've been very forthright about is protecting the institution against pressures from their own party. I know what that's like," McConnell later told Politico about Manchin and Sinema. Democrats control an evenly divided Senate because of a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris, and undoing the filibuster would require every Democratic senator's support.

The Kentucky Republican also cited the pressure he came under when former President Donald Trump tried bulldozing him on the filibuster.

"Every time I said no. And it's nice that there are Democrats left who respect the institution and don't want to destroy the very essence of the Senate," McConnell said. Reached for further comment, McConnell's office pointed Insider back to his original comments to Politico.

Sen. John Thune, the chamber's second-ranked Republican, called the duo "good people."

The pair's public profile has risen over the past few months, particularly on economic issues. Manchin and Sinema were among the eight Senate Democrats that voted against a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

Sinema is currently partnering with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on a bipartisan bill to increase the minimum wage. Manchin is also a key swing vote for Biden's infrastructure package.

Biden supports reverting to a "talking filibuster" where senators have to hold the floor and talk for hours on end.

"What it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days, you had to stand up and command the floor. You had to keep talking," Biden told ABC News last month. "That's what it was supposed to be."

In late March, Manchin told The New York Times that he remains opposed to eliminating the filibuster, as well as pushing through major legislation on a partisan basis.