OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Radical leftists in Congress just received bad news.
Democrats, who hold a slight majority in the Senate of 51 to 50, have threatened to drastically change Senate rules if they don’t get their way.
This tactic was meant to force Republicans to cooperate in order to pass their left-wing legislative agenda.
However, moderate Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia signaled that he doesn’t support this move by Democrats. This would torpedo the Democrats’ plan to change Senate rules.
Liberals are trying to pass a bill called “Freedom to Vote Act,” but fortunately a Republican-led filibuster has blocked the move.
The bill is intended to significantly expand voting access so individuals can vote by mail or vote early. It would also expand voter registration by allowing for “automatic registration” and “same-day registration.”
Republicans have rightly argued the legislation will create a significant risk of voter fraud. As a result, Democrats have been unable to get the 60 votes needed to pass the legislation.
In an act of desperation, Vice President Kamala Harris warned that Democrats are “not going to give up.”
Senator Chuck Schumer issued the ultimatum to Republicans that he will drastically change Senate rules if Democrats don’t get their way.
Schumer sent a letter that he is considering changing the filibuster rules because Republicans have stopped the legislation.
By changing the rules, it would then be possible for the Democrat’s legislation to advance.
Fortunately, Senator Manchin is standing up against his own party by rejecting the idea.
Manchin told reporters that getting behind a reform of the Senate filibuster to pass Democratic-backed election overhaul bills would be “very difficult.”
“[I’ve] always been for rules [changes] being done the way we’ve always done them, two-thirds of members voting, and any way you can do a rules change to where everyone is involved, and basically that’s a rule that usually will stay, that’s what we should be pursuing,” Manchin saidn.
“[We’re] still having ongoing conversations as far as voting because I think the bedrock of democracy is making sure that you’re able to cast a vote. If you’re legal, of age, and a United States citizen, you should be able to cast a vote, and it should be counted accurately.”
“So we’re talking about those things there,” Manchin said.
More from Daily Wire:
Asked by another reporter to confirm that he was open to the idea of using the nuclear option to reform the filibuster in order to pass the Democrats’ voting rights legislation by simple majority, Manchin was noncommittal, and indicated that it would be difficult for him to get on board. “[Being] open to a rules change that would create a nuclear option, it’s very, very difficult. It’s a heavy lift,” Manchin said.
“Anytime there’s a carveout, you eat the whole turkey,” Manchin joked. “There’s nothing left, because it comes back and forth. So you want things that’ll be sustainable, that’s what you’re looking for. So that common sense, commonality … I just believe that the bedrock of democracy is voting, and we have to do what we can in order to preserve that. But let’s just see. Conversations are still ongoing, I’ve been talking to everybody, we’ve been having good conversations … since we left about two weeks ago.”
Pressed by another reporter, Manchin reiterated his concerns. “The need for us to protect democracy as we know it, and the Senate, as it has operated for 232 years, are extremely, extremely high bars that we must be careful if we’re willing to cross those. So, I’m talking. I’m not agreeing to any of this. … I want to talk and see all the options we have open,” he said.
“We want to talk to everybody. I want to engage everybody, I’m just not doing it from one side,” Manchin said, adding that the Democrats’s abolition of the judicial filibuster in 2013 blew back on them in 2017 with the appointments of 234 federal judges under President Donald Trump, including 3 Supreme Court justices.
