A member of the “Squad” of far-left House Democrats accused Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) of “dooming our democracy in the name of bipartisanship” after announcing over the weekend that he would not support the sweeping federal election reform measure known as H.R. 1.
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) wrote in an essay published Wednesday on the website Democracy Docket that Manchin did not have any “substantive concerns” about the legislation, also known as the For The People Act.
“What Senator Manchin wants is a bipartisan bill — whatever it says,” Jones wrote. “But if there aren’t 10 Republicans willing to investigate an insurrection that almost claimed their lives, there aren’t 10 Republicans willing to protect our democracy.
“Compromising the bill simply will not solve our problem,” Jones added. “Our best hope remains to move Senator Manchin to choose democracy over bipartisanship.”
On Tuesday, Manchin met with civil rights leaders to discuss his opposition to the legislation, which is meant to counter election reform measures recently enacted in states like Georgia. Manchin described the meeting to reporters as “excellent” before adding, “I don’t think anybody changed positions.”
One of the civil rights leaders, Marc Morial, told CNN that Manchin was “fairly well dug in” in his opposition to the legislation.
“We may get to a point where the dialogue reaches a dead end,” Morial added.
Manchin has suggested that Democrats and activists support narrower legislation that updates the Voting Rights Act to reinstate a requirement that new voting laws and legislative districts in certain states be subject to federal approval.
However, Jones said Wednesday that legislation “is no substitute for the transformative democracy reforms contained in the For the People Act. It’s not even close.” Jones went on to point out even if Manchin does support the narrower measure, known as H.R. 4, it is still unlikely to gain enough GOP support to win the 60 votes necessary to pass the Senate.
“If we are going to make an exception to the filibuster for democracy reforms — which we absolutely must do — let’s do it for legislation that is actually going to save and strengthen our democracy,” Jones wrote. “We cannot let this Jim Crow relic cement the new Jim Crow … By dooming our democracy in the name of bipartisanship, Senator Manchin is betraying both.”
Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have repeatedly stated that they will not support any move to abolish the legislative filibuster, which requires most legislation to receive 60 votes to pass the Senate. Though the pair are the most outspoken supporters of the filibuster, with Manchin catching most of the heat from progressives, The Daily Beast reported Thursday that a handful of other Democratic senators quietly support Manchin and Sinema’s position.
“There are other Democratic members who share his reservations about eliminating the filibuster,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told the outlet. “Perhaps they’re less outspoken, and perhaps less vehement.”
While some conservative commentators have suggested that Manchin switch parties rather than deal with continual pressure from Democrats to support far-left legislation, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Fox News Thursday that he was “not anticipating” that happening.
“I do admire his willingness to protect the Senate as an institution,” McConnell said of Manchin on “America Reports”. “The filibuster is not so much about a particular issue as it is about the Senate as an institution. It was constructed in the beginning of the country to slow things down, to make sure the right things were done for the country.”
With Post wires
