Senate Democrat Manchin Remains Opposed to Filibuster Change
Voice of America
WASHINGTON - A centrist U.S. Democratic lawmaker, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, is renewing his opposition to changes in the parliamentary rules in the politically divided Senate, imperiling President Joe Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda.
In the Senate, now with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, members of both parties in recent years have more frequently employed a filibuster to block key legislation they did not like. Once a filibuster has begun, it requires a 60-vote super majority to end debate and move a bill to a final vote. Some progressive Democrats want to end use of the filibuster in order to approve Biden’s legislative proposals on voting rights, infrastructure spending and more on 51-50 votes, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote in favor of the Biden agenda. But Manchin, perhaps the most conservative lawmaker in the 50-member Democratic caucus, has long defended the filibuster.Soldiers patrol the road near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 13, 2024. Children look through a fence at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 13, 2024. A protester reacts while tires burn in the street during a demonstration following the resignation of Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 12, 2024. People walk along a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 13, 2024.
U.S. President Joe Biden talks to Harry Abramson during a visit to the Biden campaign office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 13, 2024. Demonstrators in support of Palestinians gather near where U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 13, 2024. U.S. President Joe Biden visits his Wisconsin election campaign office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 13, 2024.
Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry speaks while addressing the nation, at an unidentified location on a date given as March 11, 2024, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. (Prime Minister of the Republic of Haiti via X) Former police officer Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, and leader of an alliance of armed groups, walks past journalists, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 11, 2024.
Natalia Latif with a 'Vote Uncommitted' sign during an uncommitted vote election night gathering in Dearborn, Michigan, February 27, 2024. Voting in Detroit, Michigan, during the presidential primary election, February 27, 2024. Supporters of the uncommitted movement cheer during an election night gathering, Feb. 27, 2024, in Dearborn, Michigan. Eric Suter-Bull holds a Vote Uncommitted sign outside a voting location at Saline Intermediate School for the Michigan primary election in Dearborn, Feb. 27, 2024.
Supporters for Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump show their support for him at a campaign rally in Rome, Georgia, March 9, 2024. U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, speaks before U.S. President Joe Biden at a campaign rally at Pullman Yards in Atlanta, Georgia, March 9, 2024. Photos taken in Columbia, South Carolina, show former U.S. President Donald Trump, left, on Feb. 24, 2024, and current U.S. President Joe Biden on Jan. 27, 2024.