I spoke with McClatchy‘s Alex Roarty about Democrats’ Manchin problem as they struggle to sort out a strategy to pass major infrastructure legislation.

In coming months, the leader of the Democratic Party must decide whether he can cajole Manchin with a mixture of schmoozing and arm-twisting that eventually convinces the lawmaker to relent — a process that threatens to further delay Biden’s agenda if it fails — or instead capitulate and move on to other issues, a decision that would anger the president’s liberal base and reduce the size and scope of his potential accomplishments. 

Either approach carries risk, political veterans say, in dealing with a lawmaker whose opposition to any legislation can single-handedly stop it from becoming law in an evenly divided Senate.

“We’re all trapped in this choose-your-own-adventure book where Joe Manchin is the narrator, and he’s the only one who knows how this ends,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican lobbyist. “In the meantime, you either roll Manchin or you co-opt him by doing what he wants.”

Read the full piece here.

Amy Wang of the Washington Post quoted a tweet of mine in her piece on the fallout from Joe Manchin’s Sunday op-ed declaring his opposition to S. 1 and affirming his support for the filibuster as currently constituted.

Manchin’s op-ed would allow Republicans to argue that, regardless of a filibuster, the legislation doesn’t have enough Democratic votes to pass the Senate, highlighting a point of intense tension within the Democratic Party.

“Can’t very well blame GOP intransigence/outmoded process if you can’t produce a majority,” former GOP operative Liam Donovan tweeted.

Read the full piece here.

The tweet was also picked up in the Post‘s Daily 202 tipsheet, citing the Wang piece:

As our colleague Amy B Wang reports, Republicans used Manchin’s argument to point out that regardless of a filibuster, the voting rights legislation doesn’t have enough Democratic votes to pass the Senate:

I spoke to CNN‘s Mike Warren about former President Trump’s impending summer rally revival tour, and risk-reward proposition it offers for Republicans.

Others, including Meadows, are looking forward to Trump’s return to the campaign trail due to his unique ability to connect with the party’s grassroots base, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

But Republican leaders hoping for a reliable messenger are ignoring Trump’s nature, said Republican strategist Liam Donovan.”He cares about the party and its fortunes to the extent it furthers his interests, but as a private citizen circa 2022 he has vanishingly little skin in the game,” said Donovan. “Nobody should be surprised that he is more focused on nursing 2020 grudges than helping Republicans win next fall.”

Read the full piece here.