“We must all be concerned about how the budgetary reconciliation process is being used by both parties to stifle the debate on the key issues facing our country today,” he wrote. ‘The legislation would never be easy. It is hard work to address the needs of both rural and urban communities in a single piece of legislation, but it is the work for which we have been elected. ”
Manchin pointed to his own voting record as a senator. In 2013, he voted against the indictment of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to eliminate the filibuster for candidates in the cabinet and federal judges. In 2017, he voted against a proposal by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to lower the threshold for ending the debate on candidates in the Supreme Court to a simple majority.
“Every time the Senate has voted in the last decade to weaken the filibuster, the political dysfunction and the bolt enlargement have gotten worse,” he wrote. “The political games that are taking place in the halls of Congress are only arousing the hateful rhetoric and violence we are currently seeing in our country.”
The open comes after Manchin said Monday that Biden’s plan to pay for infrastructure by raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent is not a supporter.
“We will not solve the problems of our country in one congress if we seek only biased solutions,” he wrote. “Instead of eliminating the filibuster or shortening the legislative process through budget reconciliation, it’s time we did our job.”