VOWS TO FORCE ISSUE ON SAFETY NET, VOTE RIGHTS
Dares Dem rebs to shoot down Joe’s key bills in Senate, ‘not just on TV’
Sen. Chuck Schumer on Monday bluntly vowed to push forward on President Biden’s sprawling social spending plan and voting rights protections in January — even though both look doomed to fall short.
The powerful Senate majority leader bluntly warned fellow Democrats they will have to take a formal stand on the popular social safety net and climate bill. That includes Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who effectively torpedoed the $1.8 trillion Build Back Better package over the weekend.
“Every [senator must] make their position known on the floor of the Senate, not just on television,” New York’s senior senator said in an acerbic reference to Manchin’s surprise announcement Sunday on Fox News that he opposes the plan.
“We will keep voting on it until we get something done,” Schumer added.
Manchin wasted no time hitting back, saying the White House hung him out to dry by issuing a statement from press secretary Jen Psaki that claimed he flip-flopped on the bill.
“They put some things out that were absolutely inexcusable,” Manchin said in a radio interview in his home state of West Virginia, without elaborating.
Despite the public acrimony, the White House insisted that Biden remains hopeful of winning Manchin’s support for Build Back Better in early 2022.
Psaki said the two remain friends and would not give up trying to mend their differences.
“He’s going to fight like hell to make that happen,” she said.
In unusually sharp language, Schumer also said he plans to push ahead with a voting rights package.
If Republicans as expected use the filibuster to block that bill, Schumer says he will push to change the Senate rules, a move that would require the support of
Manchin and fellow moderate Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
“As with the [Build Back Better], members will be given the chance to debate on the Senate floor and cast a vote so that their choice on this matter is clear and available for everyone to see,” Schumer wrote.
Those are effectively fighting words aimed at both Manchin and Sinema, whose dispute with fellow Democrats over the filibuster will be put under a national spotlight.
If Schumer sticks to his guns it will lead to a no-holds-barred approach to rebels like Manchin and Sinema. That’s a highstakes gambit that could lead to even more bitter splits as the midterm elections loom.
With the Democrats’ agenda in disarray, Schumer scheduled an end-of-year meeting of the Senate party caucus for Tuesday evening, which happens to be the winter solstice.
He wryly noted it would be “the longest night of the year,” a nod to the angry round of recriminations that are likely to dominate that confab.
Schumer’s early Monday morning “Dear Colleague” missive amounts to a stern declaration that Democratic leaders have run out of patience with Manchin and other rebels within the party who are blocking key pillars of Biden’s agenda.
The ugly infighting ends on a very sour political note a year that started promisingly for Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress.
Despite the evenly divided Senate and narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Democratic leaders hoped they could finesse their deep differences into passing major legislation including the historic expansion of the social safety net.
With the party mostly united, Schumer, Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gambled they could eventually corral the small but powerful moderate and progressive factions in line.
After haggling for months, the mercurial Manchin blew up that strategy for good with just a handful of days left in the year.