Senator Joe Manchin (D-WVA) takes off his mask to speak as bipartisan members of the Senate and House meet to announce a framework for new coronavirus disease relief legislation (COVID-19) in a press conference at Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1. 2020.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Senator Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia, said he would consider re-approving the legislation through a party vote, but only in a situation where Democrats have tried to hire Republicans.
Manchin’s comments come as the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers look at other top priorities, including voting rights legislation, after they passed a $ 1.9 trillion Covid aid bill without a head. Republican support for the Senate split evenly this weekend.
The huge package of stimuli was able to survive in the Senate through a process known as reconciliation, which allows the House to pass a bill with a simple majority if it affects the federal budget. Typically, a bill needs 60 votes before moving to the Senate floor according to a rule called filibuster.
The filibuster will make it difficult for the Senate to pass voting legislation, passed by the House last week. Democrats would need the support of ten Republicans on a regular basis.
When asked if he would support reconciliation, Manchin said only if the usual process requiring 60 votes fails.
“I won’t change my mind about the filibuster,” Manchin told NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “I’ll change my mind if we have to go to a reconciliation with where we need to do something, once I know they’ve gotten into it.”
“But I won’t go there until my Republican friends have the ability to say theirs, too,” he said. “And I hope they get involved to the point that we have ten of them working with 50 of us.”
Democrats have raised the possibility of creating a process like reconciliation, but it would apply to certain key issues, such as voting rights rather than the budget.
Manchin played a key, though sometimes uncertain, role in passing Covid’s latest relief bill. Democrats could not afford to lose a single vote and had to make concessions to keep him on board.
Manchin defended the changes, which include an additional $ 300 a week in unemployment benefits instead of $ 400 a week proposed by the House of Representatives. However, these benefits run until Sept. 6 instead of Aug. 29 and recipients won’t have to pay taxes for the first $ 10,200.
“Basically what would have happened, going from $ 300 to $ 400, there will be a problem with people going without unemployment checks for a while,” Manchin said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week”. The $ 300 a week is systematic and will maintain a smooth transition, Manchin said.
Manchin also advocated the exclusion of a plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 per hour, from $ 7.25. He was one of eight Democratic senators who voted against an amendment tabled by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Calling for this change.
“There’s not one senator out of every 100 who doesn’t want to raise the minimum wage,” Manchin said. “$ 7.25 is sinfully low. We have to raise it.”
Instead, Manchin wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 11 an hour and index the rate of payment to inflation.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said President Joe Biden will continue to push for a federal minimum wage of $ 15 per hour.
Manchin said he is optimistic that Washington leaders can work together to reach a compromise and make a change.
“We will fix it and move forward, as it should be,” he said.