Quote of the Day
“We made a big mistake in 2009 and 2010. Susan Collins was part of that mistake. We cut back on the stimulus dramatically and we stayed in recession for five years.”
–Sen. Chuck Schumer, interviewed on CNN, when asked whether he should have done more during the relief package negotiations to win Republican votes like that of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
One Senator Who Really Doesn’t Like Chuck Schumer
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) boasts about his extensive relationships in a New York Times interview, but it appears there’s one senator who still really doesn’t like him: Susan Collins (R-ME).
“Mr. Schumer’s political action committee ran ads accusing Ms. Collins’s husband of enriching himself through the opioid crisis and charging that she had ‘pocketed’ money from drug companies.”
Said Collins: “His tactics were unworthy of a Senate race.”
Senate Democrats Talk Filibuster Reform
CNN: “Discussions within the Senate Democratic Caucus are expected to pick up steam in the coming days to see if they can unify behind a single plan.”
However, Playbook tries to decode Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) statements on the filibuster over the weekend and it turns out he’s not as open to change as he seemed to indicate.
Senate Returns to Confirming Biden’s Cabinet Picks
“After slow early progress on approving President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees, the Senate is finally on track to catch up to its pace of confirmations at the beginning of the Trump and Obama administrations,” Politico reports.
“With Donald Trump’s impeachment trial over and Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package passed, the Senate is spending this week on a confirmation blitz. The chamber is set to approve Biden’s picks to lead the Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency.”
The Talking Filibuster Is Actually Worse
Jonathan Bernstein: “The way that filibusters work in the Senate now is mostly invisible. The minority (typically the minority party, although it could be any group of senators who want to block a bill or an amendment) informs the majority that it will object to allowing a vote. The majority then either backs off and pulls the item off the Senator floor, or — if it has the votes — files for cloture to end debate and bring the matter to a vote and, if there are 60 votes, defeat the filibuster and eventually pass the item. No one gives extended speeches. A successful filibuster is usually invisible, with the majority never bringing the bill up for debate.”
“This makes people carried away by Jimmy Stewart sad. Or perhaps they mistakenly believe that the majority is letting the minority get away with something. But the truth is that the modern silent filibuster was invented by ruling Democrats a half-century ago to help the majority, not the minority. Filibustering by notification allows the majority party to get other things done, instead of wasting scarce Senate time on something that doesn’t have the votes for cloture.”
What Makes Kyrsten Sinema Tick?
The Atlantic: “Sinema’s approach has made her perhaps the most enigmatic member of the new Democratic majority. She began her career as an anti-war activist during the George W. Bush administration and then transformed herself into a centrist, becoming in 2018 the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Arizona in 30 years.”
Said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ): “Quite frankly, Kyrsten may be the most skilled political figure in Arizona. She reads her constituency as good as or better than virtually any person in political life that I know.”
McConnell Prepares His Exit
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has compiled a short list of successors in his home state of Kentucky, preparing for the possibility that he does not serve out his full term,” Kentucky Republicans tell The Intercept.
“The list is topped by his protégé, state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and also includes former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft, whose billionaire coal magnate husband is a major McConnell donor, as well as Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a former McConnell Scholar.”
“Under current law, the power to appoint McConnell’s replacement falls to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. But new legislation McConnell is pushing in the Kentucky General Assembly would strip the governor of that power and put it into the hands of the state GOP.”
How Roy Blunt’s Retirement Will Reverberate
Sen. Roy Blunt’s (R-MO) announcement this morning that he won’t seek a third term next year “marks yet another blow to the governing wing of the GOP,” Politico reports.
“The race to replace Blunt gives Trumpworld yet another opportunity to mold the GOP in the former president’s image. Looming large over the burgeoning primary battle is former Gov. Eric Greitens (R), who resigned in 2018 amid a torrent of personal and official scandal. But we’ve noticed Greitens reemerging in recent months, particularly on Trump-friendly media outlets, like Steve Bannon’s podcast.”
Cotton Criticizes Relief Checks for Prisoners He Voted For
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) “is attacking Democrats for passing a pandemic relief bill that will send money to prisoners,” CNN reports.
“But Cotton’s attack left out a highly relevant fact. Prisoners, like other individuals, were eligible for checks up to $1,200 per individual from the first bill Trump signed and up to $600 from the second bill Trump signed, depending on their income.”
“Both of those bills were approved by a Republican-controlled Senate – and Cotton voted for both of them.”
The Truth About the Filibuster
Jonathan Chait: “Ironically, it is the misleading nature of pro-filibuster propaganda that has enabled Manchin to co-opt its themes. Filibuster advocates present the device as a requirement to allow ‘debate,’ likening it to a kind of free-speech right for senators.”
“In fact, the modern filibuster inhibits rather than enables debate. So Manchin can propound on the need to allow consideration of bills, and permit Republicans to speak on them extensively, because those are not the actual goals of filibuster supporters. The real purpose of the mechanism is to impose a 60-vote requirement (one that has already been eliminated for executive-branch appointments, fiscal policy, and judges).”
Manchin Will Block Infrastructure Bill If Not Bipartisan
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told Axios that he’ll block President Joe Biden’s next big legislative package — $2 trillion to $4 trillion for climate and infrastructure — if Republicans aren’t included.
Said Manchin: “I’m not going to do it through reconciliation. I am not going to get on a bill that cuts them out completely before we start trying.”
Manchin added the infrastructure bill can be big as long as it’s paid for with tax increases. He said he’ll start his bargaining by requiring the package be 100% paid for.
Hawley Becomes GOP Cash Cow
“Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) effort to block certification of the 2020 election has been a fundraising boon — not just for himself but his party,” Axios reports.
“Corporate donors and establishment Republicans recoiled at the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol that followed efforts by Hawley and others to block President Biden’s Electoral College victory. But fundraising numbers show the GOP grassroots is still firmly in Hawley’s camp.”
Manchin Open to Making Filibuster ‘More Painful’
Sen. Joe Manchin told NBC News “that he won’t bend in his support for the filibuster, a Senate rule that forces most legislation to require bipartisan support to pass.”
“But he added that he would be open to Democrats passing more important legislation like voting reforms by a party-line vote — if senators are given ample space for bipartisan negotiation first.”
He also said that he was “willing to look at” ideas to make the filibuster “a little bit more painful,” like requiring lawmakers to take to the floor for marathon speeches if they wanted to use the procedure.
Minimum-Wage Setback Could Kick-Start Bipartisan Talks
“Democrats’ failure to pass a minimum-wage increase could spur bipartisan negotiations to bridge the big gap between the party’s progressive wing, its centrists and Republican senators on raising workers’ pay,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Joe Manchin Tests His Power
USA Today: “Anyone who thought his outsized influence in the evenly divided Senate was overstated needed only to see how the chamber came to a screeching halt when the West Virginia moderate raised questions about the size of unemployment benefits.”
“Manchin already effectively derailed one of Biden’s Cabinet nominees. And he showed his clout again during the debate of Bidens’ Covid-19 relief bill. After he objected to the $400-per-week payments, it was lowered to $300 following an hours-long delay where the senator was at the center of negotiations.”
CNN: How Democrats miscalculated Manchin and later won him back.
Schumer Rolled the Dice on Party Unity — and Won
Politico: “Passage of the Covid aid bill validated an argument Schumer has made for more years now, that Democrats erred by trying to bring Republicans on board for a big relief plan during the last economic crisis in 2009. This time around, Republicans weren’t ‘even in the ballpark’ when they offered a $600 billion spending bill as a compromise, said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL).”
“So instead of searching for bipartisan support and potentially watering down a historic bill that beefs up pensions, health care and crucial unemployment benefits, Schumer rolled the dice on total party unity — and succeeded.”
Will Democrats Scrap Filibuster to Pass Election Reform?
Dan Balz: “President Biden and Democratic lawmakers will face many challenges this year as they attempt to dramatically redirect policy after four years of Donald Trump’s presidency. None will be as consequential for the future of elections and the shape of democracy as the coming battle in the Senate over a comprehensive election revision bill.”
“In its simplest description, the legislation is designed to make it easier for people to vote, make elections more transparent and shore up some of the infrastructure of election operations. Such a description, however, belies the breadth of what is included in the nearly 800-page bill, which carries the biggest proposed changes for elections in decades.”
NBC News: Democrats confront a harsh political choice: Save the filibuster or pass Biden’s agenda.
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