Asked about the possibility of a party switch this week, Manchin responded this way:

"I'm caught between the two, but the bottom line is you have to be caucusing somewhere. ... If they asked me to leave, well, I'll just have to say, 'I guess I'll have to abide by your wishes.' ... I don't intend to leave. But I intend to be honest."

Um, OK?

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of him always staying in the Democratic Party, right?

Read more...

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pivotal Sen. Joe Manchin said Wednesday he’d vote to uphold the Senate parliamentarian’s decision if she rules that immigration or other provisions should fall from Democrats’ huge social and environment bill, underscoring the party’s uphill fight to keep some top priorities in the legislation.

Elizabeth MacDonough, the chamber’s nonpartisan rules referee, is expected to decide shortly whether language letting millions of migrants remain temporarily in the U.S. can stay in the 10-year, roughly $2 trillion measure. She’s also considering the fate of other initiatives, including parts of Democrats’ plan to curb pharmaceutical prices.

MacDonough’s decisions can be ignored by whichever Democrat is presiding over the chamber during debate, but Republicans could force votes challenging that. Ultimately, Democrats would likely need all their votes to defeat such GOP moves in the 50-50 chamber, where Vice President Kamala Harris can break ties. All Republicans oppose the legislation.

The moderate Manchin, D-W.Va., has spent months forcing Democrats to reduce the size and scope of the legislation, which the House approved last month. The Senate is all but certain to make significant changes to the bill, one of President Joe Biden’s top domestic priorities. Party leaders hope Congress can approve a final version by Christmas.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/immigration-business-environment-joe-manchin-congress-714cd484d2c9511d512a7e834482a7e0

Trump was 'extremely put off' by Brett Kavanaugh's declarations that he 'liked beer' during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings: book

President Donald Trump was "extremely put off" when then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh repeatedly declared that he "liked beer" during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, according to Mark Meadows' new book, "The Chief's Chief," which came out Tuesday.

"I liked beer. I still like beer. But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out, and I never sexually assaulted anyone," Kavanaugh said in his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 27, 2018.

"We drank beer, and you know, so did, I think, the vast majority of people our age at the time. But in any event, we drank beer, and still do. So whatever, you know," Kavanaugh said when grilled by senators about his past.

Meadows, then a North Carolina congressman and close Republican ally to Trump, writes in his new book that the president was "extremely put off" by Kavanaugh's comments about beer.

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Source: Raw Story

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday took up a case that asks whether schools that make the bible an essential teaching tool and reject gay and transgender students can receive government funding.

The nine-judge court featuring six conservatives were considering a school aid program in the northeast state of Maine and will render a decision in the spring of next year.

As Maine is sparsely populated, more than half of its school districts have no publicly funded high schools. So families receive subsidies that allow them to send their kids to the school of their choice.

Parents can choose public or private schools, in Maine or another state, and even schools affiliated with religion, so long as the teaching there is not "sectarian."

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/us-supreme-court-takes-up-case-involving-schools-money-and-religion/

Source: The Guardian

The US supreme court will hear arguments from two Arizona death row inmates on Wednesday in a case that could have devastating consequences for prisoners attempting to prove their innocence before they are sent to the execution chamber.

State officials in Arizona are asking the nation’s highest court to bar the two condemned prisoners – one with a strong claim of innocence, the other with a history of intellectual disability and family abuse – from presenting evidence in federal court that could save their lives.

The Arizona officials argue the prisoners should not be allowed to put forward the evidence because they failed to do so in state court at an earlier stage in their legal proceedings.

But the prisoners protest they had no chance of seeking redress at state level because the lawyers they were assigned by Arizona were so woefully incompetent at trial that they failed to uncover crucial evidence that could have spared them from death row. After conviction, they were assigned a second set of lawyers who were equally ineffective and who as a result made no challenge to the gross mishandling of their defense at trial.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/08/us-supreme-court-arizona-death-penalty-case

Source: The Wall Street Journal

West Virginia Democrat says at WSJ’s CEO Council Summit that he is wary of the government putting more money into the economy

WASHINGTON— Sen. Joe Manchin declined to commit to voting for Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion social-policy and climate package, citing concerns about inflation and the length of programs, weeks before the Christmas deadline party leaders are racing to meet.

Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, made the remarks during The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit at a pivotal moment for Democrats in Washington—and one where he has been a key figure. Because Senate Democrats are using a special budget maneuver to pass their education, healthcare and climate package without any GOP support, they can’t lose a single senator from their own party.

Mr. Manchin has supported the other two pillars of President Biden’s agenda this year. But the senator, who represents a state former President Donald Trump won by 40 points in 2020, continues to express concern about the bill’s impact on inflation and the deficit.

“The unknown we’re facing today is much greater than the need that people believe in this aspirational bill that we’re looking at,” Mr. Manchin said Tuesday. “We’ve gotta make sure we get this right. We just can’t continue to flood the market, as we’ve done.”

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/manchin-holds-back-support-for-social-spending-bill-11638919554

A bipartisan commission tasked by the White House with exploring possible Supreme Court reforms voted unanimously Tuesday to submit the group’s final report to President Biden.

The 34-member group sounded a neutral tone across its report's nearly 300 pages, referencing “profound disagreement” over a controversial proposal to expand the number of justices, for instance, while declining to adopt a position.

Instead, the study traces the history of the court reform debate and delineates arguments for and against various proposals, occasionally noting areas of bipartisan support, as in the case of imposing term limits on the justices.

The findings, which bear the imprimatur of some of the nation’s foremost constitutional thinkers and court watchers, are likely to shape the contours of future debates over proposals such as limiting the Supreme Court's jurisdiction and providing Congress special authority to override decisions.

Read more...

Yeah, looks like we're staying at 9 forever...

Source: Montana Public Radio

Montana’s senior U.S. Senator plans to join Republicans this week in an expected vote to nullify the Biden Administration's vaccine rule for large employers.

Democrat Jon Tester says he opposes the COVID vaccine mandate for private businesses with more than 100 employees. In a statement released Tuesday, Tester described the mandate as a "burdensome regulation."

He says Montanans tell him mandates hurt their bottom lines and the state’s overall economy.

Despite his opposition to mandates, he urged Montanans to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Read more: https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2021-12-07/tester-says-hell-vote-against-biden-vaccine-rule-for-large-employers

Source: NBC News

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court commission is not planning on making a recommendation on whether to expand the size of the court, according to a draft report obtained Monday by NBC News.

“The Commission takes no position on the validity or strength” of arguments for or against expanding the number of justices, the report said.

Instead, the report discusses the historical overview of court reform discussions, scenarios of expanding the Supreme Court, questions about the scope of the judiciary and judicial ethics.

The decision not to make a recommendation is likely to anger liberals who called for adding justices following the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/biden-commission-punts-whether-recommend-expanding-supreme-court-n1285492

Obviously, it would be filibustered, so it'll need 60 votes. Since we only have two likely Republicans who will vote for it, we'll either have to eliminate the filibuster for this or pick up seats in 2022. In the House we can't lose more than 5 votes or so. Because of this, there will have to be some compromise, whether we like it or not.

Do you agree with some compromise, or should be go all out and simply say "No state shall ban abortion at all." I think the compromise should be what Roe is now, which basically lets states ban it in the 6th month or greater. But some might not agree...

Also, is there any chance at all that it in itself could be struck down by courts? On what ground would they have?