Manchin has told GOP leaders that he’s “happy to sit down with you to see if we can find a pathway forward,” he told his home state’s MetroNews radio station on Thursday. Before his election in 2010, Manchin added, Democrats passed Obamacare “with no bipartisan support. Last night, my Republican friends and colleagues, with no Democrats, voted 51 [to 48] to throw it out. To fix it, it’s going to take 60.”
As a new member of Senate Democratic leadership, Manchin would rouse tension with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — who has said Democrats would not support Obamacare replacement plans — if he kept working to secure support from other moderate members of the minority. Manchin is not alone among moderate Democrats willing to help Trump and Republicans craft a replacement, though all are united against Obamacare repeal…
“If you don’t have agreement with at least eight or 10 Democrats” on changes to Obamacare, Manchin told MetroNews, “it will be easy to try to throw it out” but “almost impossible” to replace the law.
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