WASHINGTON (AP) – On the brink of President Biden winning his first major legislature, a leading moderate Democrat said Sunday he is open to changes to Senate rules that would allow more party-line votes to advance other parts of the White House agenda. Such as voting rights.
West Virginia Sen. Man Manchin insisted he wanted to maintain a procedural hurdle known as filebuster, saying there should always be a significant input from a minority party in the larger law. But he noted that there are other ways to change the rules that now effectively require 60 votes for most laws. An example: “T talking King Phillipsster”, in which senators need to hold the floor and slow down the bill, but then vote a simple majority “up or down” if they dare.
“Filebuster should be painful, it’s really painful and we’ve made it more comfortable over the years,” said Manchin. “Maybe it should be more painful.”
“If you want to make it a little more painful, just keep it there and talk,” added Manchin. “I’m ready to look anyway, but I’m not ready to remove the minority involvement.”
Democrats are starting to focus on their next legislative priority after winning an early signature for Biden on Saturday, with Senate approval Party Line Tr0-CO9 Vote 9 1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Scheme.
The House is expected to pass a final passage Tuesday if leaders can hold the support of progressives who were frustrated that unemployment benefits are being squeezed by the Senate and the federal minimum wage is being increased by an hour.
Over the weekend, the chairman of the Progressive Caucus of Congress, which represents about 100 House liberals, called some of the Senate’s provisions “weak policy and bad politics.” But, rip. Pramila Jaipal, D-Wash, also described the changes as “relatively minor concessions” and insisted on maintaining its “main bold, progressive elements” on the bill.
Biden says he will sign the move immediately if the House passes it. The law would allow many Americans to receive 4,400 in direct checks from the government this month.
“Lessons learned: We can do great things if we have unity,” Joy Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DNY, told the Associated Press. In an interview after Saturday’s vote.
However, the Democrats’ approach needed a last-minute call from Biden to Manchin to secure its vote after a late resistance to the breadth of unemployment benefits. It immediately raises questions about the way forward in a partisan environment where some, if any, are expected to lag behind the Republican president’s agenda.
Democrats used a fast-track budgeting process called compromise to allow Biden’s top priority without Republican support, a strategy that succeeded despite the reservations of some moderators. But work on other issues, such as voting rights and immigration, could prove more difficult in the coming months.
Sen. Lindsay Graham, RSC, promised that Senate Republicans would block the passage of a House-passed bill on the right to vote. The move, known as HR1, will limit partisan malpractice in congressional districts, disrupt voting and bring transparency to the campaign finance system. He will act as a bulwark against the restriction of voting rights in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country following repeated false claims by Donald Trump about “stolen” elections.
“Not a single Republican is going to vote for HR1 because it’s a federal takeover of elections, it sets up a system where there is no real voter protection or verification.” “It’s a generous wish list in terms of how you vote.”
The Senate split is 50-50, but Democrats control the chamber because Vice President Kamala Harris could cast a tie-breaking vote. With 60 votes effectively required on most laws, Democrats must have the support of at least some Republicans to pass Biden’s agenda.
When asked about the suffrage bill, Manchin left the door on Sunday to support certain types of work to allow it to pass by a simple majority, suggesting that if he had the ability to provide Republicans with the satisfaction he would be satisfied with, he said. “Could. Input. But it was unclear how it would work as the right to vote is not budget related and would not qualify for the conciliation process.
“I won’t go there unless my Republican friends have the ability to tell them,” Manchin said.
On Sunday, the anti-Philibuster advocacy group “Fix Our Senate” praised Manchin’s remarks as a viable way to get past the “pure bias barrier” in the Senate.
“Sen. Manchin had just unanimously opposed the hugely popular and strongly needed Covid Relief Bill to Senate Republicans, which has just passed because it could not be passed as a filebuster, so listen to him openly to express his views on reform to ensure voting rights and other crucial bills cannot pass. Is encouraging. Completely blocked by the blocking minority, ”the group said in a statement.
Manchin appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “Fox News Sunday,” CNN’s “State of the Union,” and ABC’s “This Week,” and Graham Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
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Associated Press writers Alan Frame and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
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