Sen. Joe Manchin Releases 'Compromise' Proposal On Voting Rights

A week after saying he opposed the For the People Act, the West Virginia Democrat revealed what parts of the bill he would support.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) revealed Wednesday which provisions he would support in the For the People Act, a sweeping package of voting rights, campaign finance, ethics and redistricting reforms. The list Manchin presented as a “For the People Act Compromise” comes just over a week after he declared his opposition to the bill in an op-ed for the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and one week ahead of a planned Senate floor vote on the bill. The bill already passed the House on a near party-line vote, with just one Democratic lawmaker voting against. Manchin is the sole Democrat opposed to the For the People Act in the closely divided Senate, giving him significant leverage in negotiating a bill that’s considered the party’s top legislative priority. With the thinnest of possible majorities, Democrats need his support for the bill to pass. Even then, his currently stated opposition to changing the Senate’s filibuster would make it impossible to pass without the support of 10 Republicans.