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Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), whose vote proved key in the Senate’s party-line passage of Biden’s coronavirus relief bill, said in an interview broadcast Sunday night that he will not cooperate with Biden’s next major legislative push — an infrastructure and climate bill — if Republicans are not given more of a voice.

Manchin’s comments, on “Axios on HBO,” are significant, given that any Democratic member has the power to derail the administration’s initiatives in the evenly divided Senate.

“I am not going to get on a bill that cuts them out completely before we start trying,” Manchin said of Senate Republicans.

Democrats muscled the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the chamber using the budget reconciliation process, which requires a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of the 60 required to advance most legislation in the chamber.

“I’m not going to do it through reconciliation,” Manchin said, adding that he is optimistic that at least 10 Republicans can be persuaded to support a sizable infrastructure package.

Manchin also told Axios, as well as NBC’s “Meet the Press,” that he does not believe the filibuster should be eliminated in the Senate. But he also reiterated that he would support changing Senate rules to require a “talking filibuster.” That would mean any senator objecting to ending debate would have to remain on the floor and talk the entire time — presumably reducing the frequency of filibusters.

“If you want to make it a little bit more painful, make him stand there and talk, I’m willing to look at any way we can,” Manchin said on “Meet the Press.” “But I’m not willing to take away the involvement of the minority.”

Asked about Manchin’s comments, White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Monday that “the president’s preference is not to get rid of the filibuster.”

“Look at what we’ve been able to accomplish in the last six weeks,” Psaki said.

Biden, she said, has “met with members on both sides of the aisle in the Oval, and he wants to continue to work on a bipartisan basis. And we believe there are opportunities to do exactly that on infrastructure.”

Source: WP