Manchin and the For the People Act

ALL 50 SENATE Democrats voted to move forward to a debate Tuesday on S. 1, the “For the People Act,” in an unusual display of party loyalty that was met by equal party unity on the Republican side.

In technical terms, Democrats made a motion to invoke cloture to overcome a silent Republican filibuster of a motion to proceed to debate the legislation. In other words, without actually talking on the Senate floor, Republicans successfully blocked the bill from even moving toward a floor debate. Under Senate rules in place since 1975, 60 votes are needed for cloture. The motion fell 10 votes short of 60.

[...]

Manchin continues to tell colleagues that he hopes to find 10 Republican votes to move forward with his legislation, though so far he has only gotten Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to express general support for a voting rights bill.

  The Intercept

Give it up, Joe.

Manchin’s legislation is still being negotiated and will include new provisions to counter Republican takeovers of election boards.

They will never go for that. They have to cheat to win.

In a statement Tuesday, Manchin said his compromise requires disclosure of any political spending above $10,000. It would also ban partisan gerrymandering, a key goal for Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterms.

They won't go for that, either. That's how they win with fewer votes than Democrats get.

With 50 Democrats on board for some significant voting rights reform, the question will be whether Manchin agrees to reforms to the filibuster once he concludes that there are nowhere near 10 Republicans willing to go along.

Beter hurry up. We're not that far from the 2022 elections cycle, and if you get too close to that, the Republicans will refuse on those grounds, and publicly castigate the Democrats for doing it then.

With 50 Democrats on board for some significant voting rights reform, the question will be whether Manchin agrees to reforms to the filibuster once he concludes that there are nowhere near 10 Republicans willing to go along.

[...]

Voting to move to debate would allow Republicans and Democrats to offer amendments, Manchin said — the type of legislating he often elevates as the goal of the Senate.

“Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues refused to allow debate of this legislation despite the reasonable changes made to focus the bill on the core issues facing our democracy,” Manchin said.

That's the point, Joe. They are not going to cooperate in any fashion. What have they got to lose by it? They'll force Democrats to change the rules for how many votes they need and then blast them in public for grabbing power. When will Joe learn that the Republicans do not act in good faith? That they are determined to hold power by any means necessary?

The final showdown over the filibuster is likely to come in late July, once it becomes clear that the new version of S. 1 has no serious Republican support. The argument will be helped along if bipartisan infrastructure talks, which have hit a logjam over the fundamental question of financing and taxes, have collapsed by then.

I'm not feeling optimistic. I've seen the Democrats in action - or rather inaction.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.