Manchin wants to make the U.S. Senate look stupid and comical (and sadistic) to the world.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Can't use reconciliation for voting rights- I highly doubt Biden will Permit Harris to overrule

He wouldn’t let Harris overrule the parliamentarian for minimum wage, I doubt he will for a much weaker case for voting rights.

Biden has signalled he wants the next reconciliation bill to be infrastructure- that means another reconciliation bill couldn’t pass until 2022, when it will be too late.

If you remove his comments on reconciliation, Manchin’s comments actually make some sense- the senate could move to modify the rules for the filibuster, requiring senators to actually speak, and for 40 senators to be present to sustain the filibuster. That would indeed make it more “painful”...

No, I think Manchin either misspoke or was being disingenuous- there will be an intensified fight over killing/modifying the filibuster to pass HR1, which MUST pass by the fall.

In any case, there some cracks appearing in Manchin’s steadfast, absolute proclamation of “NEVER!” Less than a week ago...

Stay tuned.