Joe Manchin on his veto power over Biden agenda: 'It's not a good place to be' - CNNPol... - 0 views
-
He's undecided on the nominee to head Health and Human Services. He's not sure if he'll back the No. 3 for the Justice Department, or the undersecretary of policy at the Pentagon.
-
He says maintaining the 60 vote-requirement to overcome a filibuster is a "red line" for him. And he's made clear he'll block advancing an infrastructure package on a party-line vote if Democrats don't work with Republicans.
- ...12 more annotations...
-
Manchin joined the Senate after literally shooting the Democrats' climate change proposal in a 2010 campaign ad -- and more recently joining Republicans in the Trump years on some of the most controversial matters, such as voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and William Barr as attorney general. Yet he also voted to convict Trump in both impeachment trials and voted against efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
-
Manchin's opposition effectively sank the nomination of Neera Tanden to head the Office of Management and Budget, as he claimed her past tweets made her "too toxic." And he sent Washington into nearly 12 hours of tension when he initially balked at a last-minute change on jobless benefits, a position Democrats feared could have sunk Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan. Ultimately, he cut a deal and then backed the bill, which passed the Senate on a 50-49 vote with no GOP support.
-
"Anybody in a 50-50 Senate is in a position to be able to do that," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat and member of leadership. Asked if Manchin should be careful not to overreach, Stabenow: "I think all of us need to be careful about that."
-
"Here's what I'm going to say about Manchin: Everybody asks me about him. Why don't you just ask him?" said GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who also represents West Virginia. "Seriously. When you have a one-vote margin, everybody has a lot of influence. Talk to him about it."
-
"Tweets," Manchin said, sounding exasperated. "I don't know why people want to get on there. I really don't know."
-
"Here's the thing, I've been pretty differential on that, you follow me?" Manchin said of presidential nominees.
-
"He's just out of the mainstream of his own party with regards to abortion and with regards to religious freedom," Romney said of Becerra on Wednesday.
-
Other nominees could potentially hinge on winning all Democratic support, such as Vanita Gupta as the No. 3 at the Justice Department, though Manchin signaled he has yet to review her nomination.
-
"I wanted Donald Trump to succeed," Manchin said in the interview. "I want Joe Biden to succeed. ... But like he said, 'Joe,' he said, 'I've never asked you to go against your convictions.' And I told him, 'I appreciate that, Mr. President, because I won't.' "
-
"It would be nice to find some common ground first," Tester said of trying to win over Republicans before moving ahead on reconciliation. He added with a laugh: "But I don't want to sound like Joe Manchin."
-
"The red line is having minority participation in your process," Manchin said. "That's the way we were designed. ... I haven't seen any reason to come off the 60."
-
"I hope he sticks to his guns," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. "I'm sure Robert Byrd would want him to. And the people of West Virginia. We cease to be the Senate if that goes away."