Joe Manchin Says He’ll Vote ‘No’ On Democrats’ Partisan Election Reform Bill, Rains On Schumer’s Filibuster-Busting Parade
“Problem for Schumer/Ds here isn’t merely that this sinks S.1, which probably wasn’t going anywhere, but that it denies them their preferred terrain to force Rs’ hand on the filibuster.”
Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) is standing his ground in defending the Senate in its traditional role as a deliberative body that serves to slow down whatever hot mess the House passes in the heat of a given historical moment. Manchin penned an op-ed in which he iterated his intention not to vote for the Democrat’s ‘For the People’ Act and his continued resistance to being party to the elimination of the filibuster.
Manchin: “I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act. Furthermore, I will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster.” https://t.co/P1N79VG1Wa
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 6, 2021
In his op-ed entitled “Why I’m voting against the For the People Act” and published in the West Virginia Gazette (archive link), Manchin writes:
[C]ongressional action on federal voting rights legislation must be the result of both Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a pathway forward or we risk further dividing and destroying the republic we swore to protect and defend as elected officials.
Democrats in Congress have proposed a sweeping election reform bill called the For the People Act. This more than 800-page bill has garnered zero Republican support. Why? Are the very Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump because of actions that led to an attack on our democracy unwilling to support actions to strengthen our democracy? Are these same senators, whom many in my party applauded for their courage, now threats to the very democracy we seek to protect?
The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen.
With that in mind, some Democrats have again proposed eliminating the Senate filibuster rule in order to pass the For the People Act with only Democratic support. They’ve attempted to demonize the filibuster and conveniently ignore how it has been critical to protecting the rights of Democrats in the past.
This is not a new stance for Manchin, who, unlike many of his fellow Democrats (and not a few Republicans), has not flip-flopped on important issues like keeping what’s left of the filibuster in tact.
Manchin continues:
As a reminder, just four short years ago, in 2017 when Republicans held control of the White House and Congress, President Donald Trump was publicly urging Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster. Then, it was Senate Democrats who were proudly defending the filibuster. Thirty-three Senate Democrats penned a letter to Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warning of the perils of eliminating the filibuster.
It has been said by much wiser people than me that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well, what I’ve seen during my time in Washington is that every party in power will always want to exercise absolute power, absolutely. Our founders were wise to see the temptation of absolute power and built in specific checks and balances to force compromise that serves to preserve our fragile democracy. The Senate, its processes and rules, have evolved over time to make absolute power difficult while still delivering solutions to the issues facing our country and I believe that’s the Senate’s best quality.
Yes, this process can be frustrating and slow. It will force compromises that are not always ideal. But consider the alternative. Do we really want to live in an America where one party can dictate and demand everything and anything it wants, whenever it wants? I have always said, “If I can’t go home and explain it, I can’t vote for it.” And I cannot explain strictly partisan election reform or blowing up the Senate rules to expedite one party’s agenda.
Kudos to Manchin here not only for sticking to his principles but for reminding both sides of the aisle that our country is not supposed to be ruled by one party in perpetuity, with one party dictating and demanding “everything and anything it wants, whenever it wants.” Sure, that sounds good to progressives and communists now, but it didn’t sound so good when President Trump was in office. Likewise, Trump supporters are horrified at the thought of Democrats and the Biden administration ramming through its agenda along partisan lines.
The Senate is supposed to slow and cool down the mob rule impulses that tend to manifest in the House, and that holds true no matter which party holds the majority in one or both houses of Congress.
One of the more interesting aspects of Manchin choosing this hill on which to take his stand is that it torpedoes Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) favored political football for ending the filibuster.
Problem for Schumer/Ds here isn't merely that this sinks S.1, which probably wasn't going anywhere, but that it denies them their preferred terrain to force Rs' hand on the filibuster. Can't very well blame GOP intransigence/outmoded process if you can't produce a majority.
— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) June 6, 2021
Manchin is taking this stand in a particularly charged partisan era that is earning him the disdain, hatred, and wrath of the left.
@Sen_JoeManchin There will be consequences for your attitude. Standing in the way of MILLIONS of people's right to vote is UnAmerican. pic.twitter.com/cTSvWcaqMh
— Deirdre Jones (@DeirdreJones54) June 6, 2021
holy fucking shit, Joe Manchin is the most powerful Republican in government
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) June 6, 2021
— Cynthia Lawless (@lifeofbetty) June 6, 2021
Spoken like a true Republican.
— Rex 💉 (@hothouserex) June 6, 2021
Democracy is going to die for Joe Manchin and Sinema's ego and greed. Whiteness will remain undefeated.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) June 6, 2021
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Comments
This dodging of bullets is getting old. But bravo for Manchin.
He and Tulsi Gabbard are the best of the worst. But still allied with the communist scammers running the democrat party.
It is great that some are waking up, I wonder how many others have reservations?
They are sort of like the Republican Party– the best of the worst and only the lesser of two evils but in no way virtuous or good.
But as we are seeing, the Republican Party is undergoing a sea change, and the romneys, boehners, ryans, moconnells etc are starting to drown in the wake of the mightly USS Donald Trump.
Glad to see the Ds have a John McCain.
That really is an insult to Manchin. Manchin seems to be upholding his oath. McCain was a pathetically vain, petty little man suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. His pathetic vanity rivals Fauci. The only good thing about McCain was that he is no longer in the Senate.
Your comment is accurate. I think pfg was simply observing that Manchin is acting, appropriately, as some sand in the Democrat gears.
And they are just as stuck with him. West Virginia is Trump country, and if the lunatic commie Dems primary him, it’s an easy GOP pickup.
The Marxists running the misnamed Democrat party are finally getting push back from the few remaining semi-sane non-Marxists left in their party.
Manchin can only get away with this because he’s their Susan Collins. If they kick him out of the party WV will elect a Republican to replace him.
The tweets presented in opposition to Sen. Manchin demonstrate that a lot of progressives simply do not care about the institution of the Senate, about checks and balances, and about the perils of absolute power.
They WANT absolute power, and they want it now.
Most of them also fail to understand what happens to the first-line leaders when a party gains absolute power. If you remind them of what happened to Bukharin, Tomsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev, they’ll stare blankly at you.
These American progressives always think that when the revolution is successful that they’ll be on top and stay on top. They see themselves as a commissar. They’ll be assistant vice commissar of eduction, or associate director-commissar of the environment, or something nice like that.
They never, ever see themselves with their hands tied behind their backs, kneeling at the side of a drainage ditch, waiting to be executed.
But that’s where socialism always, always goes.
“They never, ever see themselves with their hands tied behind their backs, kneeling at the side of a drainage ditch, waiting to be executed….”
True. But to some of them, they’re right. Take Stacey Adams: she’s too fat to get her hands tied behidn her back, and there are no drainage ditches big enough not to clog-up after she’s dumped in one. And probably no gallows strong enough to support her weight. Or electric chair she’d fit in. Or gas chamber door she’d fit through. And finally, there are not enough lethal injection drugs probably required for her weight. (She’d probably collapse the table, anyway.)
Quite often, those with the greatest wants are ignorant about the ramifications, especially how they can come back and bite them.
The Veruca Salt Syndrome.
I have more respect for Manchin than I do for my “esteemed” Senator Cassidy, Because I highly suspect his stupid ass will vote for it.
Anyone guaranteed no “Republicans” will vote for it?
Scary, huh?
Nope. The only good part is that they can’t vote against Trump since he’s no longer there, so it’s all a toss-up.
That’s one of my concerns, too.
Well, yes, they have all said they would not, that’s why Manchin matters at all. The Dems need him to get to their 51 (with Harris acting as tie-breaker). Manchin stating this is important because there are no GOP defectors on this one (the bill is a disgusting hot mess that pretty much hands every future election to Democrats). Manchin’s not the only one, either, Sinema won’t vote for it, and a handful of other purple-state and/or centrist Dems aren’t loving it, either, but are happy to let Manchin take the fire from the base.
Romney and Collins will flip and the Democrats will still get everything they want.
Manchin isn’t a hero. He just doesnt want to lose the value of his catbird seat.
Dear All You Twidiots: Manchin cannot destroy American Democracy, because there is no American Democracy to destroy. America is a Republic. And that’s not just a throwaway line, it’s existentially germane to this particular issue.
In a way, Manchin publicly saying he won’t support S. 1 is a favor to Schumer, because instead of having an embarrassing defeat on the Senate floor if Schumer had tried to nuke the filibuster to get it through, Manchin is sparing him that. It was very likely S. 1 was going to be brought up sometime in the next weeks.
That being said, that doesn’t mean there won’t be another bill that could be the impetus for Manchin to change his mind re: the filibuster. Sinema too. There could also be a situation in which a 50-50 Senate becomes a 51-49 Democrat majority and if one of Manchin and Sinema decides the filibuster needs to go the other’s opinion won’t matter because Harris will be the deciding vote.
Finally, no Senate Republican supports S. 1. It, and its compatriot H.R. 1, can basically be called, the “Ensure a Permanent Democrat Majority Act”, and they know it.