Congressional Democrats are scrambling to find a path forward on ambitious voting rights proposals — and much of the rest of their agenda — after Senator Joe Manchin dug into his longtime position that legislation must include backing from Republicans to earn his vote.
The moderate Democrat from deep-red West Virginia wrote in a recent op-ed that he will only back election bills that gain at least one Republican colleague’s support, and that he will not vote to end the legislative filibuster, which requires Democrats to attract significant Republican support to pass most bills.
At one time, that position used to be a fairly conventional line in the sand. But given the current chasm between the parties, Manchin’s pronouncement could doom much of the Democratic agenda, including a massive infrastructure package and universal preschool, and has exposed tensions among Democrats over what compromising and bipartisanship even mean after the Capitol insurrection and the presidency of Donald Trump.
“If we are going to shut down the Senate and not do anything big between now and the next election, we might as well hand the election over to Republicans,” said Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut, a Democrat.
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