Political Wire

Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!

Georgia Democrats Play Hardball on Voting Bills

February 25, 2021 at 10:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “Angered by a blitz of Republican-backed legislation that would roll back voting access, Georgia Democrats are taking hostages — withholding their support on pieces of legislation that need bipartisan backing to pass.”

“The first potential casualty appears to be a House bill that would legalize online sports betting. The bill was set to receive a vote on the House floor Thursday but was pulled at the last minute.”

“Conversations with House Democrats revealed the reason why the bill didn’t get a vote: They withdrew support because of GOP efforts to enact restrictive voting laws.”

GOP Senators Haven’t Represented a Majority Since 1996

February 25, 2021 at 9:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ed Gilgore: “Republican senators haven’t represented a majority of the U.S. population since 1996 and haven’t together won a majority of Senate votes since 1998. Yet the GOP controlled the Senate from 1995 through 2007 (with a brief interregnum in 2001–02 after a party switch by Jim Jeffords) and again from 2015 until 2021.”

Biden Orders Air Strikes In Syria

February 25, 2021 at 8:16 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The US military struck a site in Syria on Thursday used by two Iranian-backed militia groups following rocket attacks on American forces in the region in the past two weeks,” CNN reports.

“The strikes mark the military’s first known action under President Joe Biden. The site was not specifically tied to the rocket attacks, but were believed to be used by Iranian-backed Shia militias operating in the region.”

Minimum Wage Hike Can’t Go In Relief Bill

February 25, 2021 at 7:36 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Biden’s proposed $15-an-hour minimum wage increase cannot remain in his coronavirus relief bill in the Senate as written,” the Washington Post reports.

“The guidance from the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, was communicated privately to key Senate offices and confirmed by aides in both parties. It could be a major setback for liberals hoping to use Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief bill as the vehicle for their long-sought goal of raising the federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 an hour.”

Politico: “Democrats will need to come up with a back-up plan.”

McConnell Will Back Trump If He’s the GOP Nominee

February 25, 2021 at 7:01 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told Fox News that if Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee in 2024 then he will support him.

Republicans Don’t Get to Define Bipartisanship

February 25, 2021 at 7:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michelle Cottle: “For a host of reasons — including the growing polarization and ideological extremism of members of Congress — the policies that a bipartisan majority of Americans favor often have little overlap with the positions their elected leaders stake out. All too often, even lawmakers who support a bill are bullied into opposing it by their leadership or threatened with retaliation by the more extreme, more intransigent elements of their party. Broadly popular policies fall victim to congressional game playing.”

“Going forward, Mr. Biden should think, and talk, about bipartisanship as it relates to the American public — not whether a few tribal warriors in Congress can be coaxed into crossing party lines.”

The Political Memoir is Year’s Hottest Book Genre

February 25, 2021 at 6:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Town & Country: “At a time when redemption is in the air, former Trump administration officials and adjacent untouchables are getting ready for their close-ups with the last shreds of currency they have left: information, the more tantalizing and eyebrow-raising the better. They saw the book deals and sales of the first (and second and third) wave of blabbermouths, everyone from James Comey and John Bolton to Trump’s very own niece Mary, and they want a slice of the indiscretion abbondanza, even if the only road to laundering their reputations is betrayal.”

“At least, members of Trump’s inner circle are hoping that’s the case.”

House Vote on Relief Plan May Slip to Saturday

February 25, 2021 at 5:47 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Punchbowl News: “The buzz around the House chamber late Thursday afternoon was that the vote on the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package — aka the ‘American Rescue Plan’ — could slip to Saturday. It’s currently scheduled for Friday, but there seemed to be a bit of skepticism late this afternoon that the vote would proceed on time.”

“House Democratic leaders are scrambling to tweak any provisions in the legislation that could be “fatal” to the reconciliation bill in the Senate under the Byrd Rule, meaning cause it to lose its privileged status under reconciliation.”

“If you see the House Rules Committee delay its meeting on Friday, which is currently set for 9:30 a.m., then you’ll know there’s a problem.”

Portman Says Biden Violating His Promise of Unity

February 25, 2021 at 5:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) writes in the Washington Post:

“Biden faces an early choice. He can act on the hopeful bipartisan rhetoric of his inaugural address — and his presidential campaign — or contradict that message by trying to jam a $1.9 trillion bill through reconciliation with no GOP support. Working together has the benefit of crafting more-targeted policies, while showing a divided country that we can unite at a time of crisis.”

However, a new Economist/YouGov poll finds 66% of Americans support the bill, while just 25% oppose it.

The Right Kind of Partisanship

February 25, 2021 at 5:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

E.J. Dionne: “The best kind of partisanship, based on those universal values, promotes fierce but constructive arguments. It acknowledges that in a good society, most political differences involve not a choice between good versus evil, but among competing goods — efficiency, security, entrepreneurship, fairness, individualism and solidarity, to name a few. Compromise (along with, yes, bipartisanship) is easier when we’re honest about the trade-offs we’re making.”

“So our fight should not be against partisanship. It should be in favor of rehabilitating the vibrant and honest partisanship on which democracy depends.”

House Passes Equality Act

February 25, 2021 at 4:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The House voted 224 to 206 on Thursday to pass the Equality Act, which would expand federal protections for LGBTQ people by prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, Axios reports.

Three Republicans voted with all Democrats.

How Georgia Republicans Plan to Limit Voting

February 25, 2021 at 4:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

FiveThirtyEight has an excellent summary of the major voting restrictions Georgia Republicans are trying to pass in their current session.

Adam Kinzinger Gets Pro-Trump Challenger

February 25, 2021 at 4:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“When Catalina Lauf launched her 2020 GOP campaign for Congress in a district outside of Chicago, it got little notice. Her Wednesday video announcing her 2022 primary challenge to Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) quickly skyrocketed to more than 523,900 views,” the Chicago Sun Times reports.

“A primary contest between Kinzinger and Lauf, if indeed it pans out, will be part of the GOP civil war being waged across the nation between Trump Republicans and Republicans who do not embrace the ex-president.”

Both Parties Actually Agree on Expanding the Courts

February 25, 2021 at 4:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Slate: “The United States judiciary does not have enough judges. This is not a partisan gripe but an objective problem that has overwhelmed federal courts and imposed unconscionable delays on litigants for decades. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives’ subcommittee on courts held a hearing to confront this quandary; remarkably, Democrats and Republicans agreed that Congress has an obligation to expand the federal judiciary by adding new seats to both district and appeals courts.”

“But several Republicans endorsed a scheme that would prevent President Joe Biden from filling these new seats, at least in his first term. Their political maneuvering may not be fatal to the vital project of lower court expansion, but it could doom Democrats’ effort to swiftly restore a fully functioning judiciary.”

Quote of the Day

February 25, 2021 at 3:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The question I’m asked most often is, ‘When will things get back to normal?’ My answer is always honest and straightforward — I can’t give you a date. I can only promise that we’ll work as hard as we can to make that day come as soon as possible.”

— President Biden, quoted by CBS News.

Will Texas Republicans Pay a Price for the Blackouts?

February 25, 2021 at 3:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Elaine Godfrey: “Assessing political liability for a natural disaster is tricky. Texas is still a Republican state. Despite Democrats’ progress in recent elections, the power-grid collapse of 2021 is not likely to be the final push that turns the Lone Star State blue.”

“But the specific circumstances of last week’s catastrophe make predicting voter behavior more difficult than it might normally be. Political experts I spoke with were confident about at least one thing: The disaster will almost certainly inspire more Democrats to challenge the state’s ruling party.”

The Best Chance for Democracy

February 25, 2021 at 3:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), writing for NBC News: “We save democracy for today, and for the next century, by making government work; by showing people in the most meaningful way that their votes matter, and that their votes count.”

“And right now, that means a wartime-level mobilization to get Americans vaccinated and get our country through this pandemic. The best chance for our democracy lies not with the vain hope that Republican leaders will grow spines, but with Democrats’ ability to show Americans that they do not have to settle for a government that’s set up to fail.”

Thune Accidentally Makes Case for Hiking Minimum Wage

February 25, 2021 at 2:47 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) announced his opposition to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by tweeting a personal story:

I started working by busing tables at the Star Family Restaurant for $1 an hour and slowly moved up to cook — the big leagues for a kid like me — to earn $6/hour.

Businesses in small towns survive on narrow margins. Mandating a $15 minimum wage would put many of them out of business.

Of course, as Newsweek points out, Thune’s $6 an hour wage adjusted for inflation would be $24 an hour today.