Sen. Joe Manchin
Joseph (Joe) ManchinBiden gets crossroads over virus relief bill Schumer vows Senate will pass ‘daring’ coronavirus bill and reject White House GOP offer says it was MORE in touch with Manchin (DW.Va.) on Tuesday warned his party against complying with a Democratic coronavirus relief bill, promising Republicans would have input if lawmakers write the legislation.
“I made it very clear … we are going to make it work in a twofold way. My friends on the other hand will have input. And we are going to do something we agree on. I’m not just going to do it according to the lines of the matter do not, but only a party vote says, ‘Manchin told Bret Baier of Fox News and asked if he would vote for a democratic bill of only $ 1.9 billion.
Manchin added that the final coronavirus bill should be ‘meaningful’, warning that senators have spent too much time working to make the coronavirus relief work in two ways. Each of the previous five coronavirus accounts was reviewed in two lines.
“If it’s outside the kingdom that makes sense and that we’ve been working on together, we’ve built up too much trust in each other to let it fall apart. So they can rely on me to make sure we do everything we can to these two parties. make, ‘Manchin said.
Manchin is one of the centrist members of the Democratic caucus of the Senate and uses an important vote as party leadership reconciliation to provide coronavirus relief. The budget instrument allows Democrats to bypass the legislative filibuster of 60 votes in the Senate and pass an emergency relief package with only the support of Democrats.
His warning against a bill on biased relief comes after he indicated more indirectly earlier Tuesday that he wants the final product to be dual.
“For the sake of the country, we need to work with laser focus to defeat the COVID-19 crisis, support our neighbors and communities who continue to suffer, and return to a more normal life as soon as possible,” Manchin said. statement Tuesday afternoon, which Biden described as “hopeful” that the coronavirus relief bill would be twofold.
Democrats and Biden say they want the latest coronavirus relief package to be dual, but they are also laying the groundwork to try to convey their own absent IDP support.
In order to pass a coronavirus relief bill without Republicans, the Democratic leadership will need the support of every member of the Senate Democratic caucus. This means that Manchin, if he believes the process is biased or that Republicans are excluded, can effectively kill the bill or demand changes to get his support.
Manchin is expected to vote for the budget resolution this week, but said during the Fox News interview that he told the Democratic leadership: “I will vote in a dual way.”
Democrats use Biden’s $ 1.9 billion proposal as the framework for their legislation. Biden’s bill included a $ 1,400 stimulus test, an increase in the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, more state and local aid and an unemployment benefit of $ 400 a week.
Manchin told The Hill earlier on Tuesday he did not support raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour and told Fox News on Tuesday night that he did not think it would comply with the giant Senate rules governing what could be transferred under reconciliation. not.
“I don’t think it’s going to work out, because it does not fit into … the Byrd rule,” Manchin said.
He also predicted that the final amount of state and local aid in the congressional bill would be significantly lower than the $ 350 billion Biden requested. States and cities, which have seen their tax base dry up due to the coronavirus pandemic, have warned that they need to cut essential services without assistance, just as more people are using it.
“I think it’s very high. From everything I’ve seen, it’s extraordinarily high. But with that, we want to make sure that the countries that have really been hit the hardest have income shortages because of the kind of economy they have, relief, ”Manchin told Fox News.