President Joe Biden’s agenda just suffered another staggering blow — and worse for the Biden administration, this one came from inside his own political party.
Biden woke up Thursday to the news that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., has promised to never vote to weaken the Senate filibuster.
Ever.
It’s a major blow to the administration. Biden’s first-term goals have been described as a transformational effort that would forever change the U.S. economy.
But with control of the Senate split by the narrowest of margins — the Democrats have slight control of the 50-50 split thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote — there is no room for error.
The Republican filibuster represents the only thing protecting the traditional U.S. economic system from Biden’s transformation efforts, and forces Democrats to negotiate.
Manchin said he won’t vote to take away the chance for bipartisan compromise.
“There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,” Manchin wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post published late Thursday.
“The filibuster is a critical tool to protecting that input and our democratic form of government,” he wrote. “That is why I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt: There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster.”
Manchin said bipartisan compromise is the only way he would support the Democratic agenda — and it’s up to the Senators in D.C. to make that happen.
“The time has come to end these political games, and to usher a new era of bipartisanship where we find common ground on the major policy debates facing our nation,” Manchin wrote. “We will not solve our nation’s problems in one Congress if we seek only partisan solutions.”
“Instead of fixating on eliminating the filibuster or shortcutting the legislative process through budget reconciliation, it is time we do our jobs,” he said.
Manchin was West Virginia’s governor from 2005 to 2010, when he won a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat. He is a critical part of the slim Democratic majority in the Senate and has a massive influence on what parts of Biden’s agenda can be passed.
In addition to defending the filibuster, Manchin has come out against a federal $15 minimum wage.
The Horn editorial team