Joe Manchin holds the keys to passing bills through the United States Senate

May 11, 2021 at 10:50 PM CDT

Shannon Longworth

Joe Manchin

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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) can make or break President Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending and agenda.

Manchin is West Virginia’s only Democrat on Capitol Hill, so he needs to keep conservatives in mind to keep his seat.

Shannon Longworth

Shannon Longworth was an investigative reporter and anchor for Straight Arrow News from 2021 to 2023. She started her career on California’s central coast, then made her way back home working in the sprawling suburbs of New York City

Shannon Longworth: This guy right here is the Senator who could make or break any bill President Biden wants Congress to pass. He’s Joe Manchin, and his is just one name you need to know today.

Manchin’s a Democrat. But…he’s a conservative Democrat. I know–rare. He represents West Virginia…which was blue, but more recently–in the 21st century–it’s been turning red.

So…as a democrat, Manchin also has to keep conservative values in mind if he wants to stay in office.  Especially because he’s the only Democrat from West Virginia on Capitol Hill. 

Now, this is where he becomes a problem for the rest of his party. Democrats only have control of the Senate if every one of them votes as a block. So if Manchin takes a conservative stance on a bill backed by Democrats…he blocks it.

 This is what happened with the 1.9 trillion dollar COVID relief bill….Democratic Senators were all on board. 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 to  $300 a week.

So, this Democratic Senator could be the stubborn swing vote for the next two years. Which is why Joe Manchin is just one name you need to know today.

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