Politico: “The Senate is only scheduled to be in three weeks for the rest of 2021, with a recess set to start Dec. 10. There’s almost no chance that schedule holds at this point, with the Democratic majority facing a to-do list more daunting than a Black Friday sales rush. Congress has to fund the government past Dec. 3, pass a massive defense policy bill, finish out a $1.75 trillion party-line social spending bill and potentially maneuver around a U.S. credit default.”

“Each of those four bills could take several days of Senate floor time, not to mention the myriad negotiations still left to hash out Biden’s GOP-free domestic agenda with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who wants to slow things down. Already some senators are anticipating a short-term government funding patch for a few weeks, potentially right up until Christmas. And in a worst-case scenario, the debt limit would need to be raised right around that same time — something Republicans say they won’t help with.”

Said Sen. John Thune (R-SD): “It’s going to be a train wreck.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that Texas should secede if Democrats “fundamentally” destroy the U.S. but added that “he is not ready to give up on America yet,” The Hill reports.

Said Cruz: “We’re not there yet, and if there comes a point where it’s hopeless, then I think we take NASA, we take the military, we take the oil.”

Washington Post: “McConnell’s vote on impeachment, which infuriated some of his closest backers, made clear his calculus that he couldn’t challenge Trump, even at the former president’s most vulnerable moment, a sign of the MAGA hold on the party electorate and many in McConnell’s own caucus. He opposed a bipartisan Jan. 6 investigation, blocked three bills Democrats put forward to counter restrictive GOP voting laws driven by Trump’s false fraud claims and endorsed a Trump-backed 2022 Senate candidate who echoed the false claim that the election was stolen.”

“To top it all off, McConnell has pledged to vote for Trump if he’s a 2024 nominee.”

Former President Trump doubled down on his criticism of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other Senate Republicans who voted in favor of passing a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “All Republicans who voted for Democrat longevity should be ashamed of themselves, in particular Mitch McConnell, for granting a two month stay which allowed the Democrats time to work things out at our Country’s, and the Republican Party’s, expense!”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) accused Big Bird of engaging in “government propaganda” for a tweet encouraging Covid vaccinations of children.

“Democrats are ramping up their discussions about changing the Senate’s rules amid growing frustration about the inability to move voting rights legislation,” The Hill reports.

“After months of trying to give space for bipartisan discussions on election legislation, Democrats are planning internal talks about what, if any, rules changes they’ll be able to get through on their own. Those ideas include smaller shifts on nominations or amendments. But altering the filibuster — particularly when it comes to elections bills — is getting the most attention.”

Politico: “As Speaker Nancy Pelosi furiously worked to unite her caucus around a centerpiece of the party’s domestic agenda, Manchin is making it clear that he’s not paying much attention to what the House is crafting, memorably saying Wednesday that he has ‘no idea’ what they are doing.”

“So even as the House tries to include provisions like paid leave and immigration reform, the West Virginia Democrat is operating on the presumption that the House can do what it wants, and then he will too. Manchin opposes including paid leave in the bill, and the Senate’s nonpartisan rules referee may scrap immigration reform before he has a chance to raise a concern.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told CNN there’s a “hostile working environment” on Capitol Hill.

Said Manchin: “You want to know what’s wrong with the place? I go to work in a hostile working environment every day. If you’re a Democrat, and a Republican is up for election, you’re supposed to be against that person.”

He added: “If Donald Duck’s running against that person, you’re supposed to get money from your PAC to help the other person beat the person that you’ve been working with. And even sometimes they’ll say, ‘can you come campaign against so and so?’ And then we come back on Monday, and here’s a person that we’ve given money against.”

And that reminds me of an old expression…

“After months of strenuously stating he wouldn’t budge from a $1.5 trillion maximum price tag for Democrats’ climate and safety net plan, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) acknowledged he had, in fact, agreed to a $1.75 trillion figure during an appearance on MSNBC,” Politico reports.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) announced on Thursday that he supports nixing the filibuster on voting rights legislation, marking the latest Senate Democrat to back changing the Senate’s rules, The Hill reports.

Said Carper: “I do not come to this decision lightly, but it has become clear to me that if the filibuster is standing in the way of protecting our democracy then the filibuster isn’t working for our democracy.”

“I mean only in Washington could people think that it is a smart strategy to take a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure and prevent your president from signing that bill into law. And that’s somehow a good strategy?”

— Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), quoted by the New York Times.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said the “unbelievable” Republican victories in Virginia’s statewide races Tuesday validate his concerns about inflation and moving the $1.75 trillion reconciliation package too quickly through Congress, The Hill reports.

He added: “You can read so much into all of that last night. I think it should be a call to all of us have to be more attentive to the people back home.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was “bombarded with text messages” from House progressives over the weekend and that led to the moderate senator pushing back in a public statement on Monday, Politico reports.

Said one Democratic senator: “He was mad because members kept asking him for more shit.”

Politico: “If you’ve been paying attention this year, progressives yelling at Manchin has only further entrenched him in most cases.”

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chaired by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was unable to advance two nominees after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) didn’t show up to vote, Politico reports.

“You don’t list nominees in committee unless you’re pretty darn sure you have the votes to advance them. And Manchin, who’s made efforts to mend fences with Sanders over the party’s social spending bill, clearly didn’t have his colleague this time.”

“Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he didn’t sign off on a framework for a $1.75 trillion social spending and climate bill before it was released from the White House,” The Hill reports.

Said Manchin: “The White House knew exactly where I stood. There was a couple of concerns that we had that we needed to work through.”

He added: “I’ve been here long enough to know that when you say you signed off on things, you got to keep your word and I’m not going to be a liar or make anyone else a liar so that’s why I hadn’t.”