Sen. Joe Manchin Says There’s ‘No Circumstance’ In Which He’ll Vote To Abolish Or Weaken Filibuster

by Brandon MumeiApril 9, 2021, 9:44 pmDaily Digest, News, News Feed >

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) indicated Wednesday that he will not join Senate Democrats in an effort to eliminate or weaken the filibuster. Manchin published an op-ed saying there is “no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,” the senator wrote in the Washington Post.

“We will not solve our nation’s problems in one Congress if we seek only partisan solutions,” Manchin explained. “Instead of fixating on eliminating the filibuster or shortcutting the legislative process through budget reconciliation, it is time we do our jobs.”

Manchin’s remarks echo a March statement from the senator where he urged Democrats to seek bipartisan solutions instead of reforming the filibuster.

“Senate Democrats must avoid the temptation to abandon our Republican colleagues on important national issues,” Manchin then wrote. “Republicans, however, have a responsibility to stop saying no, and participate in finding real compromise with Democrats.”

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Manchin’s comments comes days after President Joe Biden announced a new round of negotiations with the 10 Senate Republicans who sought compromises on the American Rescue Plan COVID-19 relief bill. “There are things we’re working on together — some of which we’ve passed and some we will pass,” Biden said Wednesday about the negotiations.

“If they come forward with a plan that did the bulk of it and it was a billion — three or four, two or three — that allowed me to have pieces of all that was in there, I would have been prepared to compromise, but they didn’t,” Biden added.