Tag: Sen. Manchin

McConnell shoots down Manchin’s voting compromise

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Thursday that Republicans will oppose a compromise election reform proposal put forward by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

“I would make this observation about the revised version … all Republicans I think will oppose that as well if that were to be what surfaced on the floor,” McConnell told reporters, referring to Manchin’s proposal.

McConnell’s comments, which came during a press conference with GOP senators railing against the For the People Act, are the latest signal that the election bill will fail during a procedural vote next week due to a GOP filibuster. Continue reading.

How Joe Manchin Can Fix the Filibuster

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It’s easy to sympathize with the liberal desire to bury the Senate filibuster forever. The 60-vote threshold for Senate legislation is a choke point in a political system defined by gridlock, sclerosis and futility. It provides an excuse for policy abdication, encouraging the legislative branch to cede authority to the presidency and the courts, and the Republican Party to decline to have a policy agenda at all. Its history is checkered, its pervasive use is a novelty of polarization, and its eventual disappearance seems inevitable — so why not adapt now?

At the same time, it’s also easy to see why Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from a conservative state, might have some doubts about his party’s confident filibuster-busting ambitions.

Listen to Manchin’s fellow Democrats talk about their political position and the constitutional structures impeding them, and you would be forgiven for thinking that they have been winning commanding majorities for years, of the sort enjoyed by Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson, while being thwarted again and again by a much smaller reactionary faction. Continue reading.

Presidential historian calls ‘baloney’ on Joe Manchin claim filibuster stance is about ‘protecting the Senate’

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Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley literally called “baloney” on Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) for his excuse for supporting the filibuster.

Manchin has drawn criticism from his own party, civil rights leaders, and historians with knowledge of the last centuries of Senate function. Everyone, other than his Republican allies, has spoken out against Manchin’s confused understanding of the process. Manchin, however, isn’t the only Democrat parroting right-wing talking points on the filibuster crafted from historic lies. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has also bought into the fake history. 

“You have to strong-arm them,” Brinkley encouraged President Joe Biden. “Lyndon Johnson would do the lean-in treatment and stare you down, make your life miserable for you. You have to have discipline. Manchin has become a media star as being the guy who holds the Democratic Party in the balance. It’s unfortunate.” Continue reading.

Manchin to vote against election overhaul bill

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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he will vote against a sweeping bill to overhaul elections, dubbed the For the People Act, putting the fate of the legislation in jeopardy in the evenly split Senate.

In an op-ed published early Sunday morning in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin, one of the Senate Democratic Conference’s most conservative members, zeroed in on the partisan nature of the legislation, which has not attracted any Republican support.

“I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening blinds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For The People Act,” Manchin wrote. Continue reading.

Here’s the most revealing thing Joe Manchin has said about his pivotal role in the Senate

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A lot of people aren’t happy with Sen. Joe Manchin.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. As soon as it became clear that President Joe Biden’s party would have the slimmest of majorities in a 50-50 Senate, the West Virginian Democrat was transformed into the most influential member of Congress. As the furthest right senator in the caucus from the reddest state of any Democrat, he is the most likely candidate to defect from any of the party’s priorities.

Now, he’s making trouble for all sides. His decision to come out against Neera Tanden, Biden’s Office of Management and Budget nominee, over past mean tweets has threatened to sink her, and many argue it displayed a sexist and perhaps racist double standard on his part. Tanden doesn’t have many friends on the left wing of the party, but Manchin has wasted no time in alienating that faction, too, by opposing raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Depending on how negotiations with the Senate parliamentarian fall out, that position could put him on a collision course with Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York in a stand-off over the COVID relief bill. Continue reading.

Joe Manchin nails Mitch McConnell: You’re “more concerned about the health of Wall Street”

Sen. Joe Manchin erupts into shouting match with McConnell over Senate Republicans’ coronavirus bailouts

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday for being more concerned with propping up the economy than providing supplies to hospitals fighting the novel coronavirus.

“You can throw all the money at Wall Street you want to,” Manchin said after McConnell blamed Democrats for a stalled stimulus bill. “People are afraid to leave their homes. They’re afraid of the health care. I’ve got workers who don’t have masks. I’ve got health care workers who don’t have gowns.”

“And it looks like we’re worried more about the economy than we are the health care and the wellbeing of the people of America,” the West Virginia senator complained. Continue reading.

Sen. Joe Manchin Slams Trump’s ‘Munchkin’ Dig: I’m Taller, He’s Heavier

People want some adults in the room and Trump isn’t one, the West Virginia senator said.

Size clearly matters to Donald Trump. On Sunday, the president described Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) as “Joe Munchkin,” and it was just one of many similar digs he’s made about his foes’ stature.

But Manchin gave as good as he got on Monday, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that Trump was confused.

“I am a little taller than him,” Manchin said. “He’s got me about 30 pounds on weight.” Continue reading.

Manchin calls for bipartisan censure of Trump

The Hill logoCentrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) on Monday urged the Senate to censure President Trump for holding up military aid to Ukraine in order to spur an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, predicting a formal reprimand could pick up bipartisan support.

“I do believe a bipartisan majority of this body would vote to censure President Trump for his actions in this matter. Censure would allow this body to unite across party lines, and as an equal branch of government to formally denounce the president’s actions and hold him accountable,” Manchin said in a speech on the Senate floor.

Manchin’s proposal has received little traction among Senate Republicans who control the schedule, but it could gain the support of a handful of Republicans who have expressed concern over Trump’s actions, including Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Mitt Romney (Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Continue reading.