He says maintaining the requirement of 60 votes to remove Filebuster is a “red line” for him. And he has made it clear that if Democrats do not work with Republicans the party-line vote will be hampered on advancing the infrastructure package.
Manchin added: “It’s not good. It’s not a good place.”
But he gave this warning to his party because he was trying to legislate along straight party lines: “I’ll make sure they don’t.”
Manchin argues that he is trying to ensure that both parties work together in a highly polarized political environment. His Democratic critics say he is overemphasizing an opposition party eager to thwart the president’s agenda.
Now, under Biden, Manchin has a unique perch: Democrats need a new president to come on board when votes are bound to come down hard in the party line. And in private, Byden has encouraged Manchin to stick to his beliefs, as he is already fed up with some of the White House’s agenda.
Senate Democratic leaders say everyone has the same power in their caucus. But Manchin is what drives him so often.
“Anyone in the Senate is in a position to do that,” said Sen. Debbie Stebano, a Michigan Democrat and leadership member. Asked if Manchi should be careful not to overdo it, Stebano said: “I think we all need to be careful about that.”
He is attracting attention with his flood, even some of his colleagues, not wanting to talk about it.
“Here’s what I’m going to say about Manchin: Everyone asks me about it. Why don’t you ask him?” G.O.P. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who also represents West Virginia. “Seriously. When you have a one-vote gap, everyone is very impressed. Talk to him about it.”
Indeed, some of the other members who have clashed with Democrats include Sense’s Kirsten Cinema of Eringo, John Tester of Montana and Angus King of Maine, among others who are likely to split from his party in the face of difficult elections. Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, who voted with seven of her colleagues in the vote against an attempt to include a $ 15 federal minimum wage in the relief bill.
Indefinite on key nominee
In a conversation with Manchin, Kahl apologized for his past tweets, and Manchin said he was “nowhere near as enthusiastic as Tanden.”
“Tweets,” Manchin said in a bored voice. “I don’t know why people want to go there. I don’t really know.”
“Here’s the thing, I’ve been very different on that, do you follow me?” Manchin spoke about the presidential nominees.
On Besera, Manchin said: “His political background is different from mine. Well? I really appreciate his fight for the ACA because all the people with pre-existing conditions and 800,000 West Virginians would have lost, and he fought for it. But some His other attitude is different from mine. But you understand, it is not his policy to push. “If it is confirmed.
It remains to be seen whether any Republicans will back Besera, both G.O.P. With Sense. Lisa Markowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine were hinting that they were still discussing with Besera, and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told CNN he planned to protest. Him.
Romney said Wednesday about Besera that he is out of the mainstream of his own party when it comes to abortion and religious freedom.
For Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, they recognize the importance of Manchin’s vote – something that became clear during the busy day of negotiations last Friday over the relief package. Schumer frankly warned Manchin that supporting the Republican option on unemployment benefits would destroy the overall relief bill, while Biden was engaged in a softer sale: encouraging him to vote for his end conscience.
“I wanted Donald Trump to succeed,” Manchin said in an interview. “I want Zidane to succeed. … But as he said, ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I never told you to go against your beliefs.’ And I said to him, ‘Mr. President, I appreciate it, because I won’t.’ ”
Manchin has vowed to block party-line efforts
Indeed, as Democrats seek to advance a large-scale infrastructure package, Manchin has made it clear that if they try to advance the plan directly on a party-line vote and use a budget process called “compromise” – and first on Dawn Republicans Don’t try to win. That’s the same process Democrats used to pass a cleanup relief bill to Congress on Wednesday.
Even if Democrats don’t use the budget process, they’ll have to win at least 10 Republicans to break a filebuster, requiring 60 votes, which could be a difficult task.
Test said it would be nice to meet some common ground first to try to win over the Republicans before moving on to a compromise. He added with a laugh: “But I don’t like the sound of Man Manchin.”
Over the weekend many Democrats rejoiced heartily when Manchin signaled openness to correct Phillipsster, a tool he vowed to defend in the name of his predecessor, the late West Virginia Sen., Robert Byrd, a fierce defender of the Senate.
Manchin suggests they force senators to hold the floor – rather than the current situation, where a simple threat against Filebuster is enough to slow down the body and push the vote to the threshold of 60 votes.
But Manchin has made it clear he will not return from the 60-vote threshold, telling CNN it is a “red line” for him. That means Democrats won’t have the votes to change the Filebuster rules to allow sen1 senators to pass the law, even though a growing number in their party are demanding a monumental change in opposition to the GOP in protest of their much larger ticket. Agenda items.
“The red line has a minority stake in your process,” Manchin said. “That’s how we were formed. … I see no reason to go behind the off0.”
Manchin’s colleagues on both sides are watching him closely.
Republican Sen. of South Carolina. “I hope he’s sticking to his guns,” Lindsay Graham said. “I’m sure Robert Bird wants it. And the people of West Virginia. We’ll stop being senators if he gets away.”
CNN’s Olanma Mang and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
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