Shannon Longworth: This guy right here is the Senator who could make or break any bill President Biden wants Congress to pass. Heโs Joe Manchin, and his is just one name you need to know today.
Manchinโs a Democrat. But…heโs a conservative Democrat. I know–rare. He represents West Virginia…which was blue, but more recently–in the 21st century–itโs been turning red.
So…as a democrat, Manchin also has to keep conservative values in mind if he wants to stay in office.โฏย Especially because heโs the only Democrat from West Virginia on Capitol Hill.โฏย
Now, this is where he becomes a problem for the rest of his party.ย Democrats only have control of the Senate if every one of them votes as a block.ย So if Manchin takes a conservative stance on a bill backed by Democrats…he blocks it.ย
โฏThis is what happened with the 1.9 trillion dollar COVID relief billโฆ.Democratic Senators were all on board.ย All except for Manchin…who had an issue with the unemployment benefits. He thought $400 a week was too much.
So he negotiated for nearly 12 hours until the unemployment benefit was brought down toโฏ $300 a week.ย
So, this Democratic Senator could be the stubborn swing vote for the next two years.ย Which is why Joe Manchin is just one name you need to know today.ย