Mar 7, 2021 - Axios on HBO

Manchin supports filibuster "pain" but won't back Senate majority rule

Sen. Joe Manchin supports "a little bit of pain" for senators who want to filibuster, but won't get on board with simple majority rule in the Senate, he told "Axios on HBO."

The big picture: "Do whatever. ... Just don't say, 'We don't-- not gonna vote. I'm not gonna vote for that."

  • "They've talked before some of the rules could be changed a little bit. But not to the point where just a simple majority rules. That's all."

Asked about progressive policies he supports, Manchin pointed to his conservation accomplishments, including the landmark Great American Outdoors Act, signed into law last year.

  • "It's one of the great conservation bills of all times," Manchin said. "I'm an all-in person: ... Let's make it work, sit down, work through it. It's a give-and-take proposition. We'll come out with a good product."

Manchin, who was West Virginia governor from 2005-2010, said when asked if he might run for the states again: "I think that day has passed."

  • "It was the greatest job in the world," he said. "We did the pensions for our miners that took me three years — pension and health care."
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