Senator Manchin used to be a tried and true Democrat. Now he’s flipping the script.
And Joe Manchin backstabbed Democrats with one major announcement.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) may be retiring at the end of his term, but he appears to have a plan to make things interesting on his way out — at least when it comes to judicial nominees.
According to a Politico article published Wednesday, Manchin has revealed plans to launch his own personal “filibuster,” refusing to vote for any of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees unless they also have Republican backing.
And there doesn’t have to be a lot of support, Manchin said, adding that he would contemplate a “yea” vote if only one Republican was persuaded to vote with Democrats.
“Just one Republican. That’s all I’m asking for. Give me something bipartisan. This is my own little filibuster. If they can’t get one Republican, I vote for none. I’ve told [Democrats] that. I said, ‘I’m sick and tired of it, I can’t take it anymore,’” Manchin explained.
The West Virginia Democrat stated that his true desire was to see greater bipartisan cooperation, and he was just asking his colleagues to put forth the effort and woo Republican votes.
“If they don’t have a Republican, I’m opposing. That’s my way of saying: ‘I’m leaving this place, I’ve tried everything I can. Don’t tell me you can’t get one.’ If you’ve got a decent person you can at least get one. Just go ask Lisa [Murkowski, R-AK], go ask Susan [Collins, R-ME], even Lindsey [Graham, R-SC],” Manchin continued.
“Lisa and Susan both are not controlled by just voting party line, I know that. But you’ve got to ask them.”
Manchin’s use of the filibuster, which then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) abolished for judicial candidates in 2013, was an obvious reference to his own party’s aspirations to eliminate the legislative filibuster entirely.
To that aim, Manchin told Politico that he is doing everything he can to prevent the legislative filibuster from becoming the same as the judicial filibuster.
He explained that he has been asking contributors to question potential candidates if they will support attempts to preserve the filibuster in place.
Manchin had been making headlines as a possible third-party contender against Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
But ultimately, he decided against both running in 2024 for the presidency or vying to retake his Senate seat.
In the end, it looks like a likely Republican pick-up in the Senate, and Biden still has his work cut out for him in the race for the White House.
RFK Jr. is already running a third-party candidacy, and he seems poised to take a chunk of Biden’s support.
According to the Hill’s polling averages of a three-way race between RFK Jr., Donald Trump, and Biden, Trump wins out.
As of March 20th, Trump garners 40.5% of the vote.
Meanwhile, Biden gets 38.6% and RFK Jr. receives 9.8%.
With it being such a close race, every percent counts.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
