Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
No, Manchin and Sinema don’t vote with Republicans
If Your Time is short
-
For bills that have come to a vote, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema have voted 100% with their fellow Democrats.
-
But their positions have stymied efforts to pass the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill and change the Senate filibuster rule.
CNN hosts Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo don’t see eye to eye on the political leanings of two key senators. During the transition between their shows, Cuomo mentioned Democrats’ problem of finding unity.
"You also have two Republicans in the Democratic Party who are making problems for the Democrats, and that’s Manchin and Sinema," Lemon said Sept. 29.
"That’s your opinion," Cuomo said. "They’re both Democrats."
"It’s not an opinion. Just look at the way they vote," Lemon said.
We looked at the way they vote.
According to the latest tracking by FiveThirtyEight, they vote with President Joe Biden virtually all the time.
For Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, 100% of his votes align with Biden and the Democrats. That includes razor-thin party-line votes on a $3.5 trillion budget resolution (50-49), expanding voting rights (50-50) and $1.9 trillion for COVID-19 relief (50-49).
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has a similar record. The one exception is that Sinema didn’t cast a vote on establishing a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. That measure fell several votes short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate.
Though Lemon focused on voting, it’s worth noting that on measures that have not come to a vote, Lemon has more evidence to support his case.
Both Manchin and Sinema oppose changing the Senate’s filibuster rule that allows a minority of 41 senators to block a bill. That position has stymied top Democratic priorities, including strengthening the federal role in overseeing elections.
Featured Fact-check
The battle of the moment is over the Democrats’ reconciliation bill. Biden and a majority of Democrats back a $3.5 trillion proposal. That package faces opposition from a group of centrist Democrats in the House who face tough reelection races, but without Manchin and Sinema, the reconciliation bill has zero chance in the Senate.
A reconciliation bill needs only a simple majority, and in a 50-50 Senate, every Democrat must be on board.
Manchin issued a statement saying he can’t support the $3.5 trillion measure.
"Spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity," Manchin said Sept. 29.
Sinema has said she, too, opposes a $3.5 trillion price tag, but reports of her ongoing discussions with Biden and his staff hint that she might have some flexibility. At the time Lemon and Cuomo had their exchange, she was still in the "no" column.
The CNN press office told us that Lemon was having a light moment with Cuomo.
Manchin and Sinema have heard these attacks before, including from Biden. In a June speech in Oklahoma, Biden alluded to them when he said there were "two members of the Senate who voted more with my Republican friends" than with him.
The claim was inaccurate then, and still is.
Lemon said that based on their voting records, Manchin and Sinema are Republicans.
Both of them have voted with the Democrats essentially 100% of the time.
But they have broken with their party over the immediate effort to pass a multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill, a top Democratic priority. And so far, they have opposed changes in the Senate filibuster rule, another key roadblock to the Democratic agenda.
We rate this claim Mostly False.
Our Sources
CNN, Cuomo Prime Time, Sept. 29, 2021
Mediaite, Don Lemon Knocks Manchin, Sinema ‘Making Problems for the Democrats’: ‘They Are Republicans, Come On!’, Sept. 29, 2021
FiveThirtyEight, Manchin - Vote with or against Biden, accessed Sept. 30, 2021
FiveThirtyEight, Sinema - Vote with or against Biden, accessed Sept. 30, 2021
Joe Manchin, Manchin statement on infrastructure and reconciliation negotiations, Sept. 29, 2021
PolitiFact, Joe Biden wrong about voting records of Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, June 2, 2021
Politico, Sinema: I simply won't back a $3.5T spending bill, Aug. 23, 2021
The Hill, White House believes Sinema supports passing reconciliation bill this year, Sept. 29, 2021
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Jon Greenberg
No, Manchin and Sinema don’t vote with Republicans
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.