Former Sen. Doug Jones said that Sen. Joe Manchin is realizing that Republicans aren’t going to work with him on protecting voting rights.
Video of Jones on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House:
Former Sen. Doug Jones says that Sen. Joe Manchin is realizing that Republicans don’t want to work with him on voting rights. pic.twitter.com/Kq9kxsq17s
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 18, 2021
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Former Sen. Jones said:
I believe if Joe and every other Democrat and independents that we got to caucus with us understand they have gone to as far as they can to get Republicans on board and then they have to make a determination. Joe and everybody other Democrat in the Senate got to make the decision and that is, is congress going to be a backstop for what’s going on around the country? The voting laws coming so quickly, it is like the California wildfires. If congress can’t stop that, then I’m not sure anybody’s got any business being up there. I think Joe will come to a conclusion if he cannot get anything done — let’s say this. If a bill can get on the floor that can get a few Republican votes, just a few, doesn’t matter ten but a few, it gives some ability for Joe Manchin and others to say this did get some support
. If you break the filibuster, you don’t have to get 60 votes and would be good to pass with 53, 54, 55 but I think he is coming that fork in the road and into the conclusion that — two things. Number one, that Republicans don’t seem to want to work with him. Number two, it’s great to talk about bipartisanship efforts for voting. Everybody agrees with that. Best of all worlds but that’s not happening around the country. This is a partisan effort in all states across this country. There is no bipartisanship to it. I think Joe’s coming to realize that, as well<, which is why he has this proposal and giving the Republicans a shot to say work with me to pare this down and get something done for the American people.
Former Sen. Jones laid out why Mitch McConnell specifically said that no Republicans would vote for the bill. If any Republicans vote for the Manchin compromise, it would open the door for Manchin to say that he tried and his bill was bipartisan, and then he could vote on a filibuster carve out for voting rights.
A filibuster carve out is where the voting rights issue has always been heading for in the Senate. The Senate if every Democrat gets on board will pass a modified version of the For The People Act by changing the filibuster rules, and the Republican election-rigging effort will be stopped dead in its tracks.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
