Joe Manchin says he will vote against nominees if they don’t have bipartisan support

TFD – Senator Joe Manchin has announced a strict bipartisan voting requirement for Senate nominee approval.

Important swing vote in the sharply split Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin, announced on Wednesday that he will only vote to approve nominees who had the backing of at least one Republican senator going forward.

“Don’t count on me if my Democratic friends and colleagues can’t garner even one Republican vote; I’ll be brutally honest with everyone.” Don’t count on me, you can’t make it bipartisan,” declared the West Virginia Democrat, who made his retirement from public office known to start in January 2025.

He declared, “I’m not leaving this place unless I can put my preaching—basically bipartisanship—into practice.” “This is how I do it a little bit.”

In response to inquiries from CNN concerning Adeel Mangi, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Manchin made his remarks. Mangi would be the first Muslim-American to serve on a federal appeals court. He is fiercely opposed by many Republicans, who claim he belongs to an antisemitic group and holds radical beliefs. After he was narrowly cleared in the Senate Judiciary Committee in January, leading Democrats are standing by him and pushing for a floor vote, even though they admit they are unsure if they have the necessary votes to confirm him.

On Tuesday, a Democrat from Nevada named Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto declared her disapproval of Mangi.

Manchin only stated he will review Mangi’s record and made no further remarks regarding the latter.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaskan centrist Republican who frequently votes against her party, told CNN on Wednesday that she has to review Mangi’s voting history before making a decision.

Manchin clarified that there is one caveat to his recently declared demand for bipartisanship: “Unless they’re batshit crazy, that’s my requirement.” Even if they’re batshit nuts to the left, I will still vote against them. They will secure the support of at least one Republican if they are even somewhat decent.