McCaskill: ‘Not Clear’ For the People Act Is ‘Constitutional’

MSNBC contributor Claire McCaskill said Monday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that it was not clear the Democrats’ sweeping election bill H.R.-1 For the People Act is constitutional while discussing Sen. Joe Manchin (R-WV) opposition to it.

McCaskill said, “Here’s the problem on Joe Manchin. We really have two choices here. We can bring a bill to the floor that will not pass. And maybe there’s some value in doing that. To put everybody on the record. Then there’s another bill that does have bipartisan support, The John Lewis Voting Rights Act which does just deal with the subject of efforts in states to disenfranchise people.”

She continued, “It seems to me that would be the logical place to go right now. Because as to Joe Manchin, I mean look, guys, here’s what we can do with Joe Manchin chase him into the ever-loving arms of Mitch McConnell and have him change parties. Then where are we? Or we can go out and vote on the things that matter, that are popular, continuing to show Mitch McConnell and his lot should not be trusted with the majority status in the United States Senate and win some Senate races in 2022. That’s how you get rid of the Joe Manchin problem is you take him out of his position of power by electing more Democrats.”

Anchor Nicolle Wallace said, “Claire, I want to understand if you have inside knowledge…Do you know that abandoning the voting rights legislation and going back to the John Lewis Voting Rights Act would that pass? Would the Republicans not deploy the filibuster to block that?”

McCaskill said, “It was re-upped unanimously by Republicans and Democrats the last time the provisions in that bill were voted upon by the Senate. Admittedly that was, I think, back in 2006, which was a while ago and a much different Republican Party. But at a minimum, you remove the excuse that people like Lisa Murkowski or Susan Collins or others might have that this bill does have things in it not having to do with voting. It has gerrymandering in there. It has campaign finance in there. It also does some things. It’s not clear it is constitutional for the federal government to mandate how states handle presidential elections. In Article II, that’s not clear.”

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