Biden said repeatedly he does not support ending the filibuster Print this article
President Biden is bearing down on a national crisis that could make radical policy acceptable to the public, but Senate guardrails are in the way.
Two Senate Democrats struck a blow to Biden’s liberal agenda by vowing this week to uphold the legislative filibuster. Those promises seem to have kneecapped liberal calls to nuke the longtime Senate rule that requires most bills to pass 60 votes. The senators were adamant.
“I will not vote to bust the filibuster under any condition, on anything that you can think of,” Sen. Joe Manchin told the
Centrist Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin
The restaurant industry and other business groups also are launching an intense lobbying campaign against the effort to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour by 2025. They say it would deal a crushing blow to restaurants, which have already been hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.
The procedural issue is related to the so-called Byrd Rule, named after Robert Byrd, the former Democratic senator from West Virginia.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough will have to determine whether raising the minimum wage through reconciliation meets the Byrd Rule requirements that the change has an effect on the federal budget and that it is not “merely incidental to that effect.
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Senate weighs jumping Biden judicial picks ahead of the queue
Some Democrats are urging the Judiciary Committee to reshuffle its priorities, mindful of their fragile majority and Mitch McConnell’s skill at blocking nominees.
At the center of President Joe Biden’s efforts to put his mark on the DOJ is his pick for attorney general, D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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Senate Democrats are pushing to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees for top Justice Department posts as soon as possible. But some advocates are urging a different approach, calling on the Judiciary Committee to deal with judicial vacancies before filling out the rest of Biden’s DOJ team.
2022 Senate Races: Initial Ratings
A Commentary By J. Miles Coleman
Thursday, January 28, 2021
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE Republicans will be defending more Senate seats than Democrats in 2022, but both sides have some potential pickup opportunities though a large gain for either party seems unlikely. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) would have been an overwhelming favorite to win a third term, but even with his retirement, Ohio’s rightward lean makes it an uphill climb for Democrats.
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Sign up! Democrats’ clearest path to gaining seats runs primarily though the Rust Belt, as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin seem to be their top offensive races, though they may finally get lucky in North Carolina.
January 26, 2021 5:59 p.m.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) relinquished his block on the Senate organizing resolution Monday night after demanding that Democrats promise not to abolish the filibuster and dramatically curtail the minority’s power.
While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) publicly refused to make such a promise, McConnell said that reiterated opposition to abolishing it by Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) was good enough.
McConnell backing down allows Democrats to rightfully take over the effective majority, changing over the committee chairmanships and giving the new members committee assignments.
But it did not draw a line under the filibuster fight, which will almost certainly come to the fore again even with Manchin and Sinema’s current posture. (Schumer would need every Democratic senator on board to use the nuclear option on the filibuster, this time extending it to all legislation.)