Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va., who many consider the second most powerful politician in the United States, responded emphatically on Monday when asked if he would ever hesitate in his support for the procedural tool known as obstruction.
“Never!” said Jason Donner of Fox News. “Jesus Christ, what do you never understand about?”
Earlier this year, Manchin told the Washington Post: “I will not vote to prevent obstruction under any conditions, on anything you can imagine.” He was accompanied by Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., Who said she is not open to “change her mind”.
Manchin’s opinion of the obstruction is important because the Senate is evenly divided 50-50, with the deciding vote going to Vice President Harris. In most legislations, there must be a limit of 60 votes to bring most of the legislation to President Biden’s table.
Progressive Democrats see the obstruction as an outdated relic that can be used by the minority Republican Party under McConnell to sabotage Biden’s agenda, and they want to end it. They point to the way in which the obstruction was used during the 20th century to halt civil rights legislation and warn of a repeat.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell – after hearing about Manchin and Sinema’s views last month – dropped his demand that a clause preserving legislative obstruction be included in his power-sharing agreement with the leader of the most Chuck Schumer. It almost certainly means that Democrats, many of whom have said they want to get rid of the obstruction, will not be able to do so for at least the next two years.
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“Today, two Democratic senators have publicly confirmed that they will not vote to end legislative obstruction,” said McConnell at the time. “They agree with President Biden’s view and mine that no majority in the Senate should undermine the right of future minorities of both parties to help shape the legislation.”
Tyler OIsen of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report