Senator Joe Manchin (D-WVA) removes his mask to speak as bipartisan members of the Senate and House come together to announce a framework for recent coronavirus disease relief (COVID-19) legislation at a Capitol news conference in Washington, December 1. 2020.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Senator Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia, said he would consider passing the legislation through a party vote again, but only in a situation where Democrats tried to involve Republicans.
Manchin’s comments were made while the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers looked at other top priorities, including voting rights legislation, after they passed a $ 1.9 trillion Covid aid bill without any Republican support in the Senate. divided evenly this weekend.
The huge stimulus package survived the Senate thanks to a process known as reconciliation, which allows the House to pass a bill by simple majority if it impacts the federal budget. Typically, a bill needs 60 votes before it goes to the Senate floor under a rule called obstruction.
The obstruction will make it difficult to pass voting rights legislation passed by the House last week in the Senate. Democrats would need the support of 10 Republicans on a regular basis.
When asked whether he would support the use of reconciliation, Manchin said only if the regular process that requires 60 votes fails.
“I’m not going to change my mind about the obstruction,” Manchin told NBC’s “Meet The Press” program. “I will change my mind if we need to go to a reconciliation where we have to do something, as soon as I know they have a process in it.”
“But I will not be going there until my Republican friends also have the opportunity to speak,” he said. “And I hope they get involved to the point that we have 10 of them who will work with 50 of us.”
Democrats have raised the possibility of creating a process like reconciliation, but that would apply to certain key issues, such as voting rights as opposed to the budget.
Manchin played an instrumental, though sometimes uncertain, role in passing Covid’s latest relief bill. Democrats could not lose a single vote and had to make concessions to keep him on the board.
Manchin defended the changes, which include an extra $ 300 a week in unemployment benefits, instead of the $ 400 a week proposed by the House of Representatives. However, these benefits run through September 6, instead of August 29, and beneficiaries will not have to pay taxes on the first $ 10,200.
“Basically, what would have happened, going from $ 300 to $ 400, is going to be a problem with people who will be without unemployment insurance for a while,” said Manchin in an interview with ABC’s “This Week” program. The $ 300 a week is systematic and will maintain a smooth transition, said Manchin.
Manchin also advocated the exclusion of a plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour from $ 7.25. He was one of eight Democratic senators to vote against an amendment tabled by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Calling for this change.
“There is not a senator in 100 who does not want to raise the minimum wage,” said Manchin. “$ 7.25 is sinfully low. We must increase it.”
Instead, Manchin wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 11 an hour and index that pay rate to inflation.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden would continue to push for a federal minimum wage of $ 15 an hour.
Manchin said he was optimistic that Washington’s leaders could work together to reach an agreement and make a change.
“We are going to solve this and move on, the way it should be,” he said.