Indeed!Biden wasted months of negotiations hoping that Manchin would suddenly change his mind on a kitchen-sink bill. Clearly, Biden’s calculations on the art of the possible have been way off.
Yesterday brought three high-profile Biden defeats in rapid secession as he was going to Capitol Hill for one more pep rally for carving out the filibuster and getting the Senate to pass his preferred election-reform bill.
First, Kyrsten Sinema chose to give a speech declaring that she did not believe in getting rid of the filibuster, a move that reportedly “stunned” the White House. (Go figure, she doesn’t want to make concessions to the kinds of people who chased her into a bathroom.)
Then, the Supreme Court ruled, 6–3, that no, the federal government cannot use OSHA as a backdoor way of requiring citizens to get vaccinated against Covid. (Really wise of White House chief of staff Ron "KK"Klain to retweet a message declaring exactly that secret motivation!)
Then, with little chance of changing the filibuster, Joe Manchin — whom the White House chose to denounce in surprisingly personal terms back on December 19, accusing him of breaking his word — announced that he, too, will not vote to eliminate or alter the filibuster. Senate DEMOCRATS will have, at most, 48 votes to do so.
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