The Senate Is Broken

Ron Brownstein: “Anger is peaking among a wide range of Democrats toward Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema over their resistance to President Joe Biden’s economic agenda, but the Democrats’ struggle to pass Biden’s sweeping plan is rooted in more than the personal idiosyncrasies and electoral calculations of two individual senators.”

“It also illustrates the structural challenge of passing big legislation through a Senate that is more closely and deeply divided than in earlier generations.”

“Compared with most of the 20th century, it has become much more rare since 2000 for either party to accumulate a comfortable Senate majority of 55 seats or more. And yet, even as each party is operating with fewer Senate votes of its own, it has also become more difficult for the majority to win votes from senators in the opposition party for its key initiatives.”