Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) has a warning for his fellow Democrats in Congress.
Manchin is urging Democratic lawmakers not to shove through legislation with a simple majority.
“I would say this to my friends. You’ve got power … Don’t abuse it,” Manchin said during an interview with Axios’ Mike Allen. “And that’s exactly what you’ll be doing if you throw the filibuster out.”
Manchin also declared during the Axios interview that he will block the next big package — such as climate and infrastructure packages — pushed by President Joe Biden if Republicans are not included.
“I’m not going to do it through reconciliation,” Manchin said, which requires a simple majority.
He added, “I am not going to get on a bill that cuts them out completely before we start trying.”
The West Virginia lawmaker also believes there could have been Republican support for Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan if Democrats “worked harder in a bipartisan way.”
“But now it is too late,” he said.
Democrats pushed Biden’s coronavirus relief plan, with the price tag of $1.9 trillion, through the Senate over the weekend in a 50-49 vote. No Republicans voted in support of it.
The House of Representatives is expected to pass the bill on Tuesday.