(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Feinstein must go, and Joe Manchin is the reason why [1] ['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-24 To get a sense of how much of a problem Manchin is, he refused to consider Feinstein’s own expressed wish to step back temporarily from the Judiciary Committee so someone else could help with its vital work. “I definitely oppose,” he told reporters, using a Republican talking point that it was because some Democrats had called for her to resign. "That's ridiculous,” Manchin said. “She was elected. She served admirably ... We've had other members gone for a year or more at times and no one called for their resignation.” That’s an exaggeration on Manchin’s part, at least in modern times, and not the point. She asked to be temporarily replaced on the committee. But most urgently, it’s the full faith and credit of the United States that’s jeopardized by having Feinstein’s Democratic vote missing and giving Manchin undue power. It’s raising the debt ceiling so the nation can pay its bills, doesn’t go into default, and avoids crashing the global economy. That’s going to have to be done as soon as the first weeks of June, and at the latest by the end of summer. As Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said last weekend on ABC’s This Week, “it's going to become an issue as the months go by. But I'm taking her at her word that she's going to return." She added: “And it sure better happen before the debt ceiling vote.” Again, Manchin is the primary reason why. He’s been aiding and abetting House Republican hostage-taking on the debt ceiling for months, even before the 2022 election; trumpeting Republican talking points; complaining about the nation’s “crippling debt;” and insisting on cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs that he said are “going bankrupt.” In January he backed House Republicans, insisting that President Joe Biden should be negotiating with the Republican economic terrorists about the debt ceiling, using Republican talking points again. “Every American has to live within a budget. If they don’t, they’re in trouble financially,” he told CNN. After Barely Speaker Kevin McCarthy finally introduced his hostage demands, Manchin applauded them. Literally. He said “I applaud” McCarthy for his debt ceiling bill. “While I do not agree with everything proposed, the fact of the matter is that it is the only bill actually moving through Congress that would prevent default.” He again demanded that Biden “negotiate now.” It’s not just Biden’s goal of remaking the federal judiciary that’s at stake here with Manchin’s game-playing. There are also executive branch nominations. There are a number of resolutions that House Republicans have started that would roll back Biden administration regulations. These are privileged resolutions that can be passed with a simple majority of 51 votes. Just this week, the Senate barely turned back a House effort to block the Department of Veterans Affairs from providing abortions in some circumstances. It only failed because Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against it. If it weren’t for Feinstein’s absence, it would have otherwise been passed. Beyond the dangers that Feinstein’s absence poses to Biden’s agenda, there are also the people of California—the most populous state in the nation—not being fully represented in the U.S. Senate. They deserve better. Senate Democrats had two jobs this session: making sure House Republicans don’t blow everything up using the debt ceiling and government funding, and helping Biden save the federal judiciary. Feinstein deserves respect and compassion, but the nation deserves a functioning Senate and that means she needs to step aside. It’s time for Schumer and Durbin to convince her that needs to happen. Markos and Kerry are joined by Aaron Rupar today to discuss what he is seeing in the right-wing media landscape. Rupar is an independent journalist whose Public Notice Substack is a must-read for those who want to know how truly outrageous the conservative movement is. We are addicted to his Twitter account, with its never-ending stream of Republican lunacy all captured on video. x Embedded Content ​​​​​​ RELATED STORIES: This is a new low, even for Mitch McConnell Biden's goal of remaking federal judiciary is stalling out on Durbin's watch Manchin aids and abets House GOP's economic terrorism [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/24/2165206/-Joe-Manchin-is-a-big-reason-Feinstein-needs-to-resign Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/