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Why Sinema left the Democratic Party

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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) had plenty of reason to leave the Democratic Party and become an Independent, Senate Democratic aides and strategists say.

Her relationship with Democrats in her home state had deteriorated so badly she may not have survived a primary challenge in 2024. 

And the timing — while her Senate colleagues were still celebrating their victory in the Georgia runoff and the prospect of controlling 51 Senate seats — wasn’t a shock either, Democratic sources said Friday. 

After all, she had upstaged fellow Democrats several times in the past two years. 

“I’m not surprised and I think that would likely be the same answer by anyone who really knows Sen. Sinema,” John LaBombard, a former senior adviser to Sinema, said. “I think it’s a really good move for her in terms of her ability to keep working on these big bipartisan deals.“ 

Sinema often grabbed the spotlight after Democrats captured the Senate in 2021, sometimes by blocking key elements of President Biden’s agenda, such as his plan to raise the corporate tax rate, and other times by taking leading roles in negotiating infrastructure and gun violence legislation that gave Biden some of his biggest legislative victories.  

She told CNN in an interview that removing herself from “the partisan structure” was “true to who I am and how I operate” and would “provide a place of belonging for many folks across [her] state and the country, who are also tired of partisanship.”  

LaBombard, who now serves as a senior vice president at Rokk Solutions, a bipartisan public affairs firm, said the change in party affiliation reflects how Sinema has been operating in the Senate over the past two years as a centrist dealmaker. 

He said it could “reset” expectations of how she will vote, which could ease some of the tensions that built up between Sinema and Democrats when she broke with them on tax policy and Senate rules reform.  

“There’s some part of this I think could really serve as a helpful reset in expectations in the Democratic Party and Congress as a whole, and a good reminder that diversity of thought and opinion is okay,” he said. “Both parties for long-term success should really think hard about the kind of expectations they put on their more independent-minded members.” 

“This might be a release valve of pressure,” he added.  

Sinema doesn’t plan to caucus with either party in the Senate, but Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Friday that he will let her keep her committee assignments.  

“She asked me to keep her committee assignments and I agreed. Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been,” he said in a statement.  

The practical effect will be that not much will change for Sinema in her day-to-day Senate life.  

She hardly ever attended Senate Democratic caucus meetings even before she announced she would become an independent. And she’ll still working with bipartisan “gangs” outside of the committee structure 

Senate Democrats say they will still hold one-seat majorities on the committees in 2023 and 2024, which means they could issue subpoenas and discharge bills and other business out of committee without Republican votes.  

The White House issued a statement Friday pledging Sinema as “a key partner on some of the historic legislation President Biden has championed over the last 20 months” and pledging “we have every reason to expect that we will continue to work successfully with her.”  

The biggest practical implication of becoming an independent is that Sinema will not have to face a Democratic primary challenger in 2024 if she runs again. 

As a result, she won’t have to defend her opposition to key elements Biden’s tax agenda or her opposition to changing the Senate’s filibuster rule to allow voting rights legislation to circumvent GOP opposition.  

“She wasn’t going to debate partisan purism,” said Stacy Pearson, an Arizona-based Democratic strategist.  

Sinema has not discussed her plans for 2024, and party strategists are split on how much tougher her path to reelection would be as an Independent. 

Pearson said Sinema’s announcement wasn’t a big surprise given how rocky her relationship had become with the state Democratic Party, which censured the senator after she refused to change the Senate’s filibuster rule in January.  

“I am not surprised she has formalized her separation from the Democratic Party, which has already censured her and continues to criticize her about the negotiations she makes in the state’s interests,” Pearson said.

Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Raquel Terán issued a scorching response to Sinema’s announcement, declaring the senator had “fallen dramatically short” as a leader.  

“Sen. Sinema may now be registered as an independent but she has shown she answers to corporations and billionaires, not Arizonans. Sen. Sinema’s party registration means nothing if she continues to not listen to her constituents,” she said.  

The state party’s executive board announced in January that it had decided to formally censure the senator over what it characterized as “her failure to do whatever it takes to ensure the health of our democracy.”  

Sinema made it clear in her Arizona Republic op-ed that she was sick of getting that kind of criticism for working across the aisle and trying to preserve the Senate’s tradition of bipartisanship.  

“Pressures in both parties pull leaders to the edges, allowing the loudest, most extreme voices to determine their respective parties’ priorities and expecting the rest of us to fall in line,” she wrote. “In catering to the fringes, neither party has demonstrated much tolerance for diversity of thought.”  

Former Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who worked as a bipartisan dealmaker in the Senate during President Obama’s first two years in office in 2009 and 2010, said that an officeholder’s relationship with the state party is a key factor in determining national party allegiance.  

“That’s like going home and having your family dog bite you,” he said. “I never encountered that.”  

Nelson said that occasionally the “somebody from the really, really far-left” would run a television ad against him, but the polling always showed he had “overwhelming support” from Democrats in Nebraska.  

Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior Obama adviser, on Friday speculated that Sinema didn’t think she could win a primary and by registering an Independent may put pressure on Democrats to support her out of fear that Sinema and a Democrat splitting the vote would hand the seat to Republicans.

“The Sinema thing is very simple. Her calculus is that 1) She can’t win a primary; 2) If she runs as an independent who caucuses with the Dems, another Democrat can’t run bc they would split the vote and give the seat to Republicans,” he tweeted.  

But other Democratic strategists predict that Arizona Democrats will certainly run a candidate against Sinema in 2024, if she chooses to run for reelection, and predict the primary for the nomination could be crowded.  

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is viewed as a likely Senate candidate in the next election cycle and wasted no time in taking a shot at Sinema on Friday.  

“We need senators who will put Arizonans ahead of big drug companies and Wall Street bankers,” he said in a statement.  

Pearson, the Arizona-based political strategist, said Sinema would still have a good chance of winning reelection in a three-way general election race, noting that independents make up about a third of registered voters in the state.  

She said the Democratic primary could be very crowded and very competitive, meaning that whoever emerges with the nominee could be battered heading into the general election.  

“Democrats in Arizona only comprise 30 percent of the electorate. It’s the smallest bloc behind Republicans on top and independents in second place. So when she talks about representing Arizona, she’s not lying. This isn’t hyperbole,” she said.  

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Kyrsten Sinema leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent

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CNN
 — 

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent, she told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an exclusive TV interview.

“I’ve registered as an Arizona independent. I know some people might be a little bit surprised by this, but actually, I think it makes a lot of sense,” Sinema said in a Thursday interview with Tapper in her Senate office.

“I’ve never fit neatly into any party box. I’ve never really tried. I don’t want to,” she added. “Removing myself from the partisan structure – not only is it true to who I am and how I operate, I also think it’ll provide a place of belonging for many folks across the state and the country, who also are tired of the partisanship.”

Sinema’s move away from the Democratic Party is unlikely to change the power balance in the next Senate. Democrats will have a narrow 51-49 majority that includes two independents who caucus with them: Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.

While Sanders and King formally caucus with Democrats, Sinema declined to explicitly say that she would do the same. She did note, however, that she expects to keep her committee assignments – a signal that she doesn’t plan to upend the Senate composition, since Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer controls committee rosters for Democrats.

“When I come to work each day, it’ll be the same,” Sinema said. “I’m going to still come to work and hopefully serve on the same committees I’ve been serving on and continue to work well with my colleagues at both political parties.”

But Sinema’s decision to become a political independent makes official what’s long been an independent streak for the Arizona senator, who began her political career as a member of the Green Party before being elected as a Democrat to the US House in 2012 and US Senate in 2018. Sinema has prided herself on being a thorn in the side of Democratic leaders, and her new nonpartisan affiliation will further free her to embrace an against-the-grain status in the Senate, though it raises new questions about how she – and Senate Democrats – will approach her reelection in 2024 with liberals already mulling a challenge.

Sinema wrote an op-ed in the Arizona Republic released Friday explaining her decision, noting that her approach in the Senate has “upset partisans in both parties.”

“When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a victory than they are on improving Americans’ lives, the people who lose are everyday Americans,” Sinema wrote.

“That’s why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington.”

Sinema is up for reelection in 2024 and liberals in Arizona are already floating potential challengers, including Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, who said earlier this year that some Democratic senators have urged him to run against Sinema.

“Unfortunately, Senator Sinema is once again putting her own interests ahead of getting things done for Arizonans,” Gallego said in a statement following Sinema’s announcement.

Sinema declined to address questions about her reelection bid in the interview with Tapper, saying that simply isn’t her focus right now.

She also brushed aside criticism she may face for the decision to leave the Democratic Party.

“I’m just not worried about folks who may not like this approach,” Sinema said. “What I am worried about is continuing to do what’s right for my state. And there are folks who certainly don’t like my approach, we hear about it a lot. But the proof is in the pudding.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Sinema a “key partner” following her decision and said the White House has “every reason to expect that we will continue to work successfully with her.”

Sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that Sinema gave the White House a heads up that she was leaving the Democratic Party. Schumer said in a statement he also was aware of Sinema’s bombshell announcement ahead of Friday morning.

“She asked me to keep her committee assignments and I agreed,” Schumer said. “Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been. I believe she’s a good and effective Senator and am looking forward to a productive session in the new Democratic majority Senate.”

Schumer also outlined how he did not expect Sinema’s decision to impact Democrats’ plans for next year, saying in his statement, “We will maintain our new majority on committees, exercise our subpoena power, and be able to clear nominees without discharge votes.”

The Biden White House is offering a muted reaction Friday morning and insisting that they expect to continue having a productive working relationship with the senator.

One White House official tells CNN that the move “doesn’t change much” other than Sinema’s own reelection calculations.

“We’ve worked with her effectively on a lot of major legislation from CHIPS to the bipartisan infrastructure law,” the official said. The White House, for now, has “every reason to expect that will continue,” they added.

Sinema has long been the source of a complex convergence of possibility, frustration and confusion inside the White House.

“Rubik’s cube, I guess?” was how one former senior White House official described the Arizona senator who has played a central role in President Joe Biden’s largest legislative wins and also some of his biggest agenda disappointments.

There was no major push to get Sinema to change her mind, a White House official said, noting that it wouldn’t have made a difference.

“Nothing about the last two years indicates a major effort would’ve made helped – the exact opposite actually,” a White House official said.

The most urgent near-term effort was to quietly find out what it meant for their newly expanded Senate majority, officials said.

While there were still clear details to figure out about process, “I think people exhaled when we had a better understanding of what she meant,” one source familiar with the discussion said.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota told “CNN This Morning” that “Senator Sinema has always had an independent streak,” adding that “I don’t believe this is going to shake things up quite like everyone thinks.”

She added, “Senator Sinema has been an independent in all intents and purposes.”

Sinema and West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin have infuriated liberals at various points over the past two years, standing in the way of Biden’s agenda at a time when Democrats controlled the House, Senate and White House.

Sinema and Manchin used their sway in the current 50-50 Senate – where any single Democrat could derail a bill – to influence a host of legislation, especially the massive $3.5 trillion Build Back Better bill that Biden proposed last year. Sinema’s objections to increasing the corporate tax rate during the initial round of negotiations over the legislation last year particularly rankled liberals.

While Sinema was blindsided by the surprise deal that Manchin cut with Schumer in July on major health care and energy legislation, she ultimately backed the smaller spending package that Biden signed into law before the election.

Both Manchin and Sinema also opposed changes to the Senate’s filibuster rules despite pressure from their Senate colleagues and Biden to change them. After a vote against filibuster changes in January, the Arizona Democratic Party’s executive board censured Sinema.

Sinema has been in the middle of several significant bipartisan bills that were passed since Biden took office. She pointed to that record as evidence that her approach has been an effective one.

“I’ve been honored to lead historic efforts, from infrastructure, to gun violence prevention, to protecting religious liberty and helping LGBT families feel secure, to the CHIPs and science bill to the work we’ve done on veterans’ issues,” she told CNN. “The list is really long. And so I think that the results speak for themselves. It’s OK if some people aren’t comfortable with that approach.”

Sinema’s announcement comes just days after Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock won reelection in Georgia, securing Democrats a 51st Senate seat that frees them from reliance on Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote.

Sinema declined to address questions about whether she would support Biden for president in 2024, and she also said she’s not thinking about whether a strong third party should emerge in the US.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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Sinema earns McConnell’s praise, draws criticism from Democrats

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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Monday engaged in a mutual admiration exchange with the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), expressed support for restoring elements of the filibuster and suggested that Republicans might win control of the House or Senate in the midterm elections.

Several Democrats were unhappy, criticizing not only her remarks but her timing.

Sinema made the comments during a speech at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville, speaking and answering questions at the invitation of McConnell. There, McConnell effusively praised Sinema in his introduction, saying she is the “most effective first-term senator” he’s seen during his 37 years in the Senate.

“She is, today, what we have too few of in the Democratic Party: a genuine moderate and a dealmaker,” he said.

Sinema, for her part, spoke highly of McConnell. “Despite our apparent differences, Sen. McConnell and I have forged a friendship, one that is rooted in our commonalities, including our pragmatic approach to legislating, our respect for the Senate as an institution,” she said.

Since 1993, dozens of Democrats and Republicans, diplomats and foreign leaders have spoken at the McConnell Center. Vice President Joe Biden did in February 2011; Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) spoke in April of this year. But Sinema’s appearance came just weeks before midterm elections as several of her Democratic colleagues are campaigning to help the party hold onto the House and Senate in November.

“As you all know, control changes between the House and the Senate every couple of years. It’s likely to change again in just a few weeks” Sinema said.

That angered Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a potential challenger to Sinema in 2024.

Sinema has frequently expressed interest in the kind of bipartisanship that has frustrated her progressive Democratic colleagues, particularly when Republicans used the filibuster to block them from passing climate, abortion and voting rights legislation. Democrats had called for scrapping it to enact key parts of their agenda ahead of the midterm elections, while they control the White House and Congress. The appointment of judges and key administration officials has also been slowed by Republican use of the filibuster.

“I have an incredibly unpopular view,” Sinema told the crowd in Kentucky. After saying she supported requiring 60 votes to pass legislation in the Senate — where her party controls only 50 seats — Sinema said she wanted to go even further. “I actually think we should restore the 60-vote threshold for the areas in which it has been eliminated already. We should restore it,” she said, before pausing to let the audience applaud their approval.

“It would,” she said, “make it harder for us to confirm judges. And it would make it harder for us to confirm executive appointments in each administration.” Ultimately, that would force compromises and create “more of that middle ground in all parts of our governance,” she said.

Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) eliminated the 60-vote threshold for federal judges in 2013. McConnell, in 2017, scrapped the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees as the Senate considered President Donald Trump’s nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch.

“Frustration” with the filibuster, Sinema said, “represents solely the short-term angst of not getting what you want. And those of you who are parents in the room know that the best thing you can do for your child is not give them everything they want.”

She argued that bad laws emerge without the kind of consensus that a filibuster can force. As proof, Sinema pointed to the House where no filibuster rule exists. “When Republicans are in control, they pass a little bit of crazy legislation,” she said. “And when the Democrats are in control, they pass a little bit of crazy legislation. And the job of the Senate is to cool that passion.”

She criticized both Trump and President Biden for talking about eliminating the filibuster as well as both parties on immigration and border security.

“For my entire lifetime,” the 46-year-old senator said, “the federal government has absolutely failed, absolutely failed in its charter to protect our border. We have not had a secure border my entire life.” But, after the election, Sinema said she would connect with “my good friend” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) to work on the issue.

“The two of us from different political parties, but sharing the same core values. We recognize the crisis that we’re in and we want to solve it.” Cornyn and Sinema were part of a bipartisan group that worked on successful gun control legislation following the deadly mass shooting at a school in Uvalde, Tex.

Sinema’s appearance crystallized what her critics have said is the freshman senator’s problematic alliance with the Republicans, whose agenda many Democrats argue is harmful to the country.

Keith Olbermann, the former ESPN “SportsCenter” and MSNBC host, went on Twitter to criticize her comments and, in so doing, revealed that they had a personal relationship years earlier. “When we dated, in 2010-11, Kyrsten was a legit progressive, far to my left. Now she has embraced the Political Industry where there is only process, not policy, and never people.”

During the question-and-answer session, Sinema was asked whether it was harder to run for statewide office or run a marathon. Sinema — a self-described “avid marathoner”— said they were somewhat comparable and that after completing one recent marathon she “could barely walk in the Senate for the whole following week.”

Standing from the podium, she added, “I was walking around —” then slightly gyrated her body with her hands raised into fists, as if gripped on fixtures for support. “But you know, in the Senate that’s fine.” As the crowd laughed, she added, “Most of them struggle with walking anyways.”



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Sinema in speech at McConnell Center says 60-vote Senate threshold should be restored

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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Monday said the Senate should reinstate the 60-vote threshold for all judicial and executive branch nominees.  

Sinema made the comments during a Q&A session following a speech at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) introduced the Arizona moderate at the event. 

“Not only am I committed to the 60-vote threshold, I have an incredibly unpopular view. I actually think we should restore the 60-vote threshold for the areas in which it has been eliminated already. We should restore it,” Sinema said to cheers from some attendees. 

“Not everyone likes that,” Sinema continued to laughs, “because it would make it harder for us to confirm judges and it would make it harder for us to confirm executive appointments in each administration, but I believe that if we did restore it, we would see more of that middle ground in all parts of our governance, which is what, I believe, our forefathers intended.” 

The 60-vote threshold for non-Supreme Court judicial nominations and executive branch nominees was ended when then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democrats invoked the so-called “nuclear option” in 2013. McConnell and Republicans went a step further and did so for Supreme Court nominees in 2017 during the confirmation process of Justice Neil Gorsuch. 

Sinema pointed to the volatility of the House, specifically, and the frequency with which both chambers flip control as part of why the filibuster should remain in place.

“It’s likely to change again in just a few weeks,” she said, pointing to the November elections.

“While it is frustrating as a member of the minority in the United States Senate — and equally as frustrating in the majority, because you must have 60 votes to move forward, that frustration represents solely the short-term angst of not getting what you want,” Sinema said. “We shouldn’t get everything we want in the moment because later, upon cooler reflection, you recognize that it has probably gone too far.”

Sinema’s remarks come nine months after she declined to jump on board with President Biden and Senate Democrats in a push to overturn the legislative filibuster to deal with voting rights. The Arizona Democrat also staked out a similar stance in 2019, having told Politico that she wanted to restore the Senate’s supermajority. 

While the remarks are not new, the timing is notable.

They come only three months after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which Democrats have sought to codify into law without success. They also come amid the Democratic stretch run to keep hold of the party’s Senate majority and potentially break the current 50-50 split. 

Sinema is also staring down a likely primary challenge in 2024, potentially by Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), as the progressive wing of the party has grown increasingly frustrated with her in recent years.

On top of her refusal to nix the legislative filibuster in January, Sinema declined to support the original Build Back Better proposal before Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said in December that he could not back it. Sinema ended up voting for the Inflation Reduction Act in August. 

–Updated at 11:44 a.m.

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Kyrsten Sinema says she will ‘move forward’ on economic bill, putting Biden’s agenda on the cusp of Senate approval

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Sinema’s support means Democrats likely will have 50 votes in their caucus to push the bill through their chamber by week’s end, before it moves to the House next week for final approval.

And while the plan is scaled back from Biden’s initial Build Back Better package, the latest bill — named the Inflation Reduction Act — would represent the largest investment in energy and climate programs in US history, extend expiring health care subsidies for three years and give Medicare the power for the first time to negotiate prescription drug prices. The legislation would impose new taxes to pay for it.

A remaining hurdle for Democrats: A review by Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who must decide whether the provisions in the bill meet strict rules to allow Democrats to use the filibuster-proof budget process to pass the legislation along straight party lines.

But after days of talks with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sinema indicated she was ready to vote to proceed.

“Subject to the Parliamentarian’s review, I’ll move forward,” she said in a statement after maintaining silence over the bill for more than a week.

In the statement, Sinema indicated that she won several changes to the tax provisions in the package, including removing the tax on carried interest, which would have impacted hedge fund managers and private equity. That proposal would have raised $14 billion. She also suggested that she won changes to Democrats’ plans to pare back how companies can deduct depreciated assets from their taxes — a key demand by manufacturers that had lobbied Sinema over their concerns this week.

“We have agreed to remove the carried interest tax provision, protect advanced manufacturing, and boost our clean energy economy in the Senate’s budget reconciliation legislation,” Sinema said.

To make up for the lost revenue, Democrats agreed to add a 1% excise tax on companies’ stock buybacks as part of the agreement, raising another $73 billion, according to a Democratic aide.

“The agreement will include a new excise tax on stock buybacks that brings in far more revenue than the carried interest provision did, meaning the deficit reduction figure will remain at $300 billion,” a Democrat familiar with the agreement told CNN.

The $300 billion target in deficit reduction had been a key priority of Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who signed onto the deal after negotiations with Schumer last week.

“The agreement preserves the major components of the Inflation Reduction Act, including reducing prescription drug costs, fighting climate change, closing tax loopholes exploited by big corporations and the wealthy, and reducing the deficit by $300 billion,” Schumer said in a statement. “The final version of the Reconciliation bill, to be introduced on Saturday, will reflect this work and put us one step closer to enacting this historic legislation into law.”

High-stakes negotiations

Earlier Thursday, top Senate Democrats engaged in high-stakes negotiations with Sinema, actively discussing potential changes to major tax components in order to secure the Arizona moderate’s support.

In private discussions, Sinema had expressed concern over key parts of the Democrats’ plan to pay for their climate and health care package — imposing a 15% tax minimum tax on big corporations and taxing so-called carried interest, which would mean imposing a new levy on hedge fund managers and private equity.

As a result, Democrats had been scrambling to find new revenue sources to meet the goal of saving $300 billion over a decade.

“Failure is not an option,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, expressing the view of much of his caucus earlier Thursday that Sinema would eventually get on board.

Schumer announced earlier on Thursday that the Senate will reconvene on Saturday and plans to take the first procedural vote to proceed to the bill. If the vote gets the backing of all 50 members of the Democratic caucus, there would then be up to 20 hours of debate. Following debate time, there would be a process colloquially referred to on Capitol Hill as “vote-a-rama,” which is the marathon series of amendment votes with no time limit before the final vote. If the bill ultimately passes, the House would need to act.

Democrats are trying to wrap up negotiations and pass their economic passage before leaving town for a month-long August recess. The measure would invest $369 billion into energy and climate change programs with the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030. For the first time, Medicare would be empowered to negotiate the prices of certain medications, and it would cap out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 for those enrolled in Medicare drug plans. It would also extend expiring enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act coverage for three years.

It’s not clear if all these provisions will survive the parliamentarian’s review.

Heavy pressure on Sinema

Sinema was not part of the deal, learning of it when the news broke last week. She had refused to comment publicly on the deal, with her aides only saying she would wait until the Senate parliamentarian’s review is done before taking a position. Yet she had been making her demands clear with Democratic leaders, including seeking to add $5 billion to help the Southwest cope with its multi-year drought, according to multiple sources.

As Democrats courted her, Republicans and business groups madetheir concerns known. In a private call this week, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, urged Sinema to press to change the corporate minimum tax. The president of the Arizona business group, Danny Seiden, told CNN that he expressed the business community’s opposition to the 15% tax provision, noting it would particularly hit manufacturers that take advantage of an accelerated depreciation tax deduction that lowers their tax burden.

“Is this written in a way that’s bad?” Sinema asked, according to Seiden, president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, who relayed the call to CNN.

“It gave me hope that she’s willing to open this up and maybe make it better,” Seiden said.

Two sources told CNN that Sinema had privately relayed those concerns to top Democrats, arguing it would hurt manufacturers including in her state.

In an effort to break the logjam, Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, a freshman Democrat, proposed the excise tax on stock buybacks to Schumer as a way to make up for the revenue lost by Sinema’s requests, according to a Democratic aide.

At issue are changes proposed by Democrats on bonus depreciation that the GOP enacted in the 2017 tax law, which allows companies to deduct 100% of the cost of an asset the year it is placed in service. The new legislation proposed to phase that down starting next year.

It’s unclear exactly how the new language is structured on this issue.

Defending the new tax, the Democratic-led Senate Finance Committee released date on Thursday from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation showing that up to 125 billion-dollar companies averaged only a 1.1 percent effective tax rate in 2019. The committee argues in its release that this shows the “rock-bottom tax rates” that some companies are able to pay.

“While we know that billion-dollar companies are avoiding paying their fair share, these tax rates are lower than we could have imagined,” said Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. “We’re going to put a stop to it with our 15 percent minimum tax.”

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments Thursday.

CNN’s Jessica Dean, Ella Nilsen, Clare Foran and Alex Rogers contributed to this report.

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Bernie Sanders open to supporting primary challenges against Sinema and Manchin – live | US news

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16:50

Lauren Gambino

Later today, Joe Biden will hold the 10th press conference of his presidency, far fewer than any of his recent predecessors during their first year in office.

In a sharp shift from Donald Trump, Biden has said journalists are “indispensable to the functioning of democracy”, which the president has repeatedly warned is under threat at home and abroad. Yet press access to the president has been limited.

Biden has held just nine formal news conferences during his first year, according to research compiled by Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project. Trump had held 22 and Barack Obama 27 at the same point in their presidencies.

Only Ronald Reagan, whose public appearances were scaled back following an assassination attempt in March 1981, held fewer press conferences during his first year. But Reagan did 59 interviews that year, compared with Biden, who has only done 22.

Trump, who labeled the media the “enemy of the American people” and once praised a congressman who assaulted a reporter, did 92 interviews during his first year.

Biden does field questions more frequently than his predecessors, but takes fewer of them, according to Kumar’s tally. These impromptu exchanges with reporters often follow scheduled remarks or public appearances.

“For the president, it is a question of how do you use your time?” Kumar said. “And for Biden, he has wanted to use his time negotiating privately on his policies.”

Read the Guardian’s full report:










16:30

Biden to hold press conference amid struggles to pass voting rights bill

Joe Biden will hold a press conference this afternoon, as the president marks one year since he took the oath of office.

The president is expected to field tough questions about Democrats’ failure to pass their voting rights bill and the Build Back Better Act, as well as his unimpressive approval rating.

Speaking at her daily briefing yesterday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki instead stressed the accomplishments of Biden’s first year in office, including boosting coronavirus vaccination rates and getting the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law.

Jen Psaki
(@PressSec)

This progress on vaccinations is so important, especially in light of Omicron, because we know the unvaccinated are 17x more likely to be hospitalized and 20x more likely to die than those who’ve been vaccinated.

There’s still more work to do, but this progress is undeniable. https://t.co/3Zd7WKTc2x

January 18, 2022

“We need to build on that. The work is not done. The job is not done. And we are certainly not conveying it is,” Psaki said.

“So, our objective — and I think what you’ll hear the president talk about tomorrow — is how to build on the foundation we laid in the first year.”

The press conference is scheduled to begin at 4pm ET, and the blog will have updates and analysis once it starts. Stay tuned.

Updated










16:04

Worth noting: most Senate Democrats are actually sitting in the chamber to listen to the debate over their voting rights bill, per CNN.

Lauren Fox
(@FoxReports)

In a rare move, most Senate Democrats are at their desks in the chamber as the debate over voting rights unfolds. I spotted both Sinema and Manchin as well who are opposed to rules change Schumer will push tonight.

On GOP side, McConnell, Blunt, Portman and Tillis spotted.

January 19, 2022

The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on the bill later today, and it will almost certainly fail. Because of a Republican filibuster, the bill will need 60 votes to advance, which will not happen in the 50-50 Senate.










15:52

In his own Senate floor speech today, majority leader Chuck Schumer reiterated his argument that members have a duty to pass voting rights legislation and strengthen America’s election systems.

Schumer sharply criticized Republicans for downplaying the impact of the voting restrictions enacted by 19 states in the past year.

ABC News Politics
(@ABCPolitics)

Sen. Schumer knocks Republicans on voting rights during filibuster showdown: “Just as Donald Trump has his ‘big lie,’ Leader McConnell now has his: ‘States are not engaging in trying to suppress voters whatsoever.’” https://t.co/6AqGNTnvGd pic.twitter.com/2OVa4ggi8f

January 19, 2022

“Our Republican colleagues don’t even acknowledge that we have a crisis,” Schumer said, noting that minority leader Mitch McConnell claimed states were not engaged in voter suppression.

Schumer outlined some of the restrictions that states have enacted, including limiting early voting and hours at polling places and making it harder to register to vote.

“Just as Donald Trump has his ‘big lie,’ Leader McConnell now has his: ‘States are not engaging in trying to suppress voters whatsoever,’” Schumer said.

Updated










15:25

Manchin to deliver floor speech on voting rights and filibuster reform

Senator Joe Manchin will deliver a floor speech this afternoon outlining his position on changing chamber rules to allow voting rights legislation to move forward.

“It is such an important issue that all of us have grave concerns about, and it’s worthy of the time we spend,” Manchin told CNN.

“I would like to see us stay on the bill. There’s no use to try to bring this to finality by having a vote that’s going to fail tonight. Let’s just stay on it.”

Manu Raju
(@mkraju)

Manchin told me he’s planning on speaking on the floor this afternoon about his views on rules changes. “I would like to see us stay on the bill,” he said of voting rights bill. He doesn’t want see Schumer move to try to cut off debate.

January 19, 2022

As of now, the Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on whether to advance Democrats’ voting rights bill, which passed the House last week.

That vote, which will need the support of 60 members because of the filibuster, is expected to fail. And as long as Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema continue to oppose rule changes, the bill has no path to passage in the Senate.










15:09

Kelly backs rule changes to get voting rights bill passed

Mark Kelly, one of the last Senate Democrats who had not yet clarified his position on filibuster reform, has now said he supports rule changes to allow voting rights legislation to advance.

The Arizona Republic reports that Kelly, who is up for reelection this year, supports a “talking filibuster” rule only for Democrats voting rights bill.

“If campaign finance and voting rights reforms are blocked again this week, I will support the proposed changes to pass them with a majority vote,” Kelly said in a statement.

“Protecting the vote-by-mail system used by a majority of Arizonans and getting dark money out of our elections is too important to let fall victim to Washington dysfunction.”

Senator Mark Kelly
(@SenMarkKelly)

If NASA functioned like the United States Senate, they would never get the rocket off the launchpad.

Read my full statement about why I support passing campaign finance and voting rights reforms with a majority vote: https://t.co/0w2zTIxOTX pic.twitter.com/nUUZ0BdWtF

January 19, 2022

A talking filibuster would still require 60 Senate votes to cut off debate on a proposal, but that debate would eventually come to an end anyway as the filibusters gave up the floor. Once they did so, the debated bill could be passed by a simple majority of 51 votes.

Democrats have been discussing a talking filibuster rule as a potential compromise for those who do not support eliminating the filibuster all together.

However, as of now, the talking filibuster proposal does not have the necessary support for approval because Joe Manchin has said he wants all rule changes to attract bipartisan support, and Republicans remain staunchly opposed to weakening the filibuster.

Updated










14:46

Republican redistricting weakens influence of minority voters, report finds

Republicans are severely distorting district lines to their advantage and weakening the influence of minority voters as they draw new district lines across the country, according to a new report by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The report, which examines the state of play of the ongoing decennial redistricting cycle, notes that Republicans are shielding their efforts to dismantle minority districts by arguing that the new lines are based on partisanship.

While racial discrimination in redistricting is illegal, the US supreme court said in 2019 that discrimination based on partisanship was acceptable.

Brennan Center
(@BrennanCenter)

Many of the voter maps coming out of the 2021-22 redistricting cycle entrench racial discrimination and partisan gerrymanders. The Freedom to Vote: John Lewis Act offers critical protections that would make a difference in time for the midterms. https://t.co/ZWL0STc5JP

January 19, 2022

“This cycle is seeing unprecedented efforts to undermine the political power of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native communities through redistricting, especially in southern states that, for the first time in more than half a century, are no longer covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act,” the report says.

“Some of the most aggressive attacks on minority power are coming in the suburbs of southern states like Texas and Georgia. There, Republicans have surgically dismantled rapidly diversifying districts where communities of color have enjoyed increasing electoral success in recent years,” it adds.

The report also notes that Republicans, who have complete control over the drawing of 187 of the US House’s 435 districts, are making districts much less competitive.

Donald Trump won 54 districts by 15 or more points in states where the GOP controls redistricting under old maps. Under the new plan, that number increases to 70.

The redistricting cycle is still ongoing. New York, Tennessee, and Missouri are still among the states where lawmakers are drawing new maps.










14:34

Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are also experiencing some external pressure as they resist efforts to change the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.

EMILY’s List, the progressive group that backs women candidates who support abortion rights, said it would withhold its endorsement from Sinema because of her stance on filibuster reform.

“Our mission can only be realized when everyone has the freedom to have their voice heard safely and freely at the ballot box,” EMILY’s List president Laphonza Butler said in a statement released yesterday.

EMILY’s List
(@emilyslist)

An update from our President @LaphonzaB on voting rights pic.twitter.com/flmU4y8qNw

January 18, 2022

Butler noted that her group has not contributed to or endorsed Sinema’s campaign since she first won her Senate seat in Arizona’s 2018 elections.

“Electing Democratic pro-choice women is not possible without free and fair elections. Protecting the right to choose is not possible without access to the ballot box,” Butler said.

“So, we want to make it clear: if Sen. Sinema can not support a path forward for the passage of this legislation, we believe she undermines the foundations of our democracy, her own path to victory and also the mission of EMILY’s List, and we will be unable to endorse her moving forward.”










14:30

Sanders suggests he may back primary challenges to Sinema and Manchin

Greetings, live blog readers.

Progressive senator Bernie Sanders has said he may consider supporting primary challengers to Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the two holdouts in Democrats’ debate over whether to amend the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.

Sanders told reporters yesterday that he believes “there is a very good chance” the two senators will face primary challenges because of their stance on the filibuster.

When asked if he would consider backing such primary challengers, Sanders replied, “Well, yeah.”




Bernie Sanders makes comments to reporters about Joe Manchin. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Manchin brushed off the warning, saying, “I’ve been primaried my entire life. That would not be anything new for me.”

But Sanders’ comments underscore the growing rift in the Democratic party over the filibuster and, more broadly, the best response to Republican obstructionism.

While progressives support using every tool at their disposal to circumvent Republican tactics, centrists like Manchin and Sinema still underscore the importance of bipartisanship, which has become increasingly rare in Washington.

Joe Biden will hold a press conference later today, and he will almost certainly be asked what that divide says about his party and whether he can get anything else done in Congress with members of his own party at odds.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.



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US

Biden says he’s “not sure” about voting bills’ future after Sinema reiterates opposition to rule change

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President Biden met Thursday afternoon with Senate Democrats, saying “as long as I’m in the White House … I’m going to be fighting for these bills,” hours after Senator Kyrsten Sinema, one of two Senate Democrats known to oppose changes to Senate rules, said Thursday on the Senate floor that she will not change her position. 

Her remarks come moments ahead of Mr. Biden’s lunchtime meeting with Senate Democrats in which he encouraged lawmakers to overhaul Senate rules to allow the voting bills to pass with a simple majority, rather than 60 votes. Following that meeting, the president told reporters he hopes they can pass the legislation but he’s “not certain” they can. 

“Like every other major civil rights bill that came along, if we missed the first time, we could come back and try it a second time. We missed this time. We missed this time,” he said. “… I don’t know that we can get it done, but I know one thing: As long as I have a breath in me, as long as I am in the White House, as long as I’m engaged at all, I’m gonna’ be fighting to change the way these legislatures have moved.”

Arizona’s Sinema and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin have repeatedly and openly expressed their opposition to such a change. National Democrats are trying to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, which would establish national election standards, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would reinstate a core provision of the Voting Rights Act.

Manchin and Sinema met with Mr. Biden Thursday night. After the session, a White House official said only that, “The President hosted Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema at the White House tonight for a candid and respectful exchange of views about voting rights.” 

Sinema said she continues to support the legislation and emphasized the need to prohibit states from restricting voting access, but said such change cannot come at the cost of further division. 

 U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to reporters after a meeting with Senate Democrats in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on January 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. 

Drew Angerer / Getty Images


“While I continue to support these bills, I will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division afflicting our country,” Sinema said on the Senate floor. “There’s no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60 vote threshold to pass legislation. And there’s no need for me to restate its role protecting our country from wild reversals in federal policy.”

Eliminating the 60-rule vote on a party line “will not guarantee that we prevent demagogues from winning office,” she said. 

“Eliminating the 60-vote threshold will simply guarantee that we lose a critical tool that we need to safeguard our democracy from threats in the years to come,” she added. 

The senator from Arizona expressed frustration with both Republicans in blocking the voting legislation, and Democrats in trying to alter Senate rules. 

Following the meeting, the president said he hopes they can pass the legislation, but isn’t sure. 

“I hope we can get this done,” he told reporters. “But I’m not sure.”

Manchin said the president gave a “wonderful speech,” while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Democrats are “going to do everything we can to pass these two bills.” 

In a speech in Atlanta on Tuesday, the president said publicly for the first time that he supports nixing the filibuster for the voting bills. 

“I’ve been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months. I’m tired of being quiet!” the president exclaimed.

The House on Thursday, in a 220-203 vote, passed a consolidated voting bill that would be the first step in enabling the Senate to debate voting rights changes on the floor. 

“Nothing less than our democracy is at stake,” Pelosi said Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, Republicans are warning the president and Senate Democrats against changing the Senate rules.

“This is more than just about one issue,” said Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. “This is about fundamentally changing the fabric, the fence that the Senate provides by having the filibuster in place to make sure that we don’t have the dramatic swings from administration to administration, from majority to minority, [from] Republican to Democratic, and that we keep the ship sort of going in the right direction and working together at the same time.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki didn’t say whether the White House has identified more executive actions the president can and plans to take, pointing out the president signed an executive order early on in his presidency to promote voting rights. Psaki acknowledged that it can be difficult to get things done with a small majority in the Senate. 

“The president’s view is we’re going to keep pushing for hard things, and we’re going to keep pushing the boulders up the hill to get it done,” she said. 

CBS News’ Jack Turman, Fin Gomez and Adam Brewster contributed to this report. 

Kathryn Watson

Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.

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US

Sinema speaks out against filibuster reform after House sends voting rights bill to Senate – live | US news

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Kyrsten Sinema has indicated – or simply confirmed – that Democrats’ push to change Senate rules to allow for the passage of voting rights legislation is indeed doomed.

In a speech on the Senate floor delivered shortly before Joe Biden was scheduled to arrive on Capitol Hill to attempt to force the issue, the Arizona senator said: “While I continue to support these bills, I will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division infecting our country.”

Those separate actions would involve abolishing or modifying the filibuster, the rule which empowers the minority by setting a 60-vote threshold for most legislation.

The Senate is split 50-50 and controlled by Democrats via the vice-president, Kamala Harris. Democratic senators represent vastly more voters than Republican senators, a point often made by supporters of filibuster reform.

Democrats who favour change also point out that federal legislation is needed to counter Republican attempts to restrict voting among minorities which tend to favour Democrats, by means of restrictive laws at the state level.

Voter suppression laws are also at issue, as Republicans who support Donald Trump’s big lie about electoral fraud seek to instal allies in key posts and to make it easier to overturn election results.

Nonetheless, Sinema and her fellow moderate Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, have remained steadfastly against filibuster reform – even though both support some form of federal voting rights protection.

They fear the ramifications of filibuster reform if and when Republicans take back the chamber, which could well happen later this year. Some observers suggest that is naive, as Republicans under Mitch McConnell, a man who has made constitutional hardball an art form, may well dynamite the filibuster themselves.

Either way, without Sinema and Manchin, all efforts on the issue by Biden and the majority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, are doomed to fail.

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US

Sinema Says She Will Not Support Changing Filibuster

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WASHINGTON — President Biden’s drive to push new voting rights protections through Congress hit a major obstacle on Thursday when Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, declared that she would not support undermining the Senate filibuster to enact new laws under any circumstances.

Pre-empting a presidential visit to the Capitol to meet privately with Democrats, Ms. Sinema took to the floor to say that while she backed two new voting rights measures and was alarmed about new voting restrictions in some states, she believed that a unilateral Democratic move to weaken the filibuster would only foster growing political division.

“These bills help treat the symptoms of the disease, but they do not fully address the disease itself,” Ms. Sinema said. “And while I continue to support these bills, I will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division infecting our country.”

Her comments were a major setback for Mr. Biden, who delivered a speech in Atlanta two days earlier, calling for a change in Senate rules if necessary, and was traveling to Capitol Hill on Thursday to try to persuade Senate Democrats. Ms. Sinema has been under pressure from her colleagues to drop her opposition to a rules change, but her refusal to reverse course appeared to doom the bills in the Senate.

Her speech followed House passage on Thursday of a repackaged set of voting rights bills. Lawmakers pushed past Republican opposition and hurriedly sent the legislation to the Senate to force a showdown over the fate of the measures and the reach of the filibuster.

Acting as part of a Democratic plan to expedite consideration of the bills in the Senate, the House approved the new measure on a party-line vote of 220 to 203 after a heated partisan debate in which lawmakers clashed over the state of election laws across the country.

The new legislation combined two separate bills already passed by the House — the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — and joined them in what had been an unrelated measure covering NASA. The move will allow the Senate to bring the bill directly to the floor, skirting an initial filibuster, although Republicans could still block it from coming to a final vote.

Democrats said the legislation was urgently needed to offset efforts taking hold in Republican-led states to make it more difficult to vote after Democratic gains in the 2020 elections and former President Donald J. Trump’s false claim that the vote was stolen. They argue that the flurry of new state laws is clearly intended to reduce voting in minority communities, amounting to a contemporary version of the kinds of restrictions that were prevalent before the enactment of landmark civil rights laws in the 1960s.

“There are people who don’t want you to vote and they are using every tool in the toolbox to make it harder,” said Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat of Florida, referring to the enactment over the past year of new voting restrictions in Republican-led states. “Voter suppression has not been consigned to the history books. It is here today, right now.”

Republicans railed against the maneuver used to pass the House bill on Thursday, accusing Democrats of “hijacking” the space agency measure to push through legislation that they said represented federal intrusion into state voting operations to give an unfair advantage to Democratic candidates.

“This is one giant leap backward for American election integrity,” said Representative Tom Tiffany, Republican of Wisconsin.

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said the Senate would begin debate on the House-passed bill as quickly as possible. It will be the Senate’s fifth attempt to consider such legislation after Republicans have used the filibuster four times to prevent the bills from even reaching the floor.

“The Senate will finally hold a debate on the voting rights legislation for the first time in this Congress,” Mr. Schumer said on Thursday. “Every senator will be faced with the choice of whether or not to pass this legislation to protect our democracy.”

While all 50 Senate Democrats are in support of the legislation, Republicans are almost uniformly opposed, leaving Democrats short of the 60 votes needed under current rules to end debate and force a final vote. President Biden urged Democrats on Tuesday to force through a rules change for the voting rights legislation to allow the party to circumvent a filibuster through a simple majority.

At least two Democrats — Ms. Sinema and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — have so far said they would not do so, meaning the legislation will die in the Senate if they do not change their positions.

The Freedom to Vote Act contains an array of proposals to establish nationwide standards for ballot access, aiming to nullify the wave of new restrictions in states. It would require a minimum of 15 consecutive days of early voting and that all voters are able to request to vote by mail; it would also establish new automatic voter registration programs and make Election Day a national holiday. It is a narrower version of legislation that Democrats introduced early last year but revised to suit Mr. Manchin, who said the original bill was overly broad and insisted on including a provision requiring voters to present some form of identification.

A second measure named for Representative John Lewis, the civil rights icon and former congressman who died in 2020, would restore parts of the landmark Voting Rights Act weakened by Supreme Court rulings. Among the provisions was one mandating that jurisdictions with a history of discrimination win prior approval — or “preclearance” — from the Justice Department or federal courts in Washington before changing their voting rules.

Mr. Schumer has set a Monday deadline for action, timing it to the observance of the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Democrats said that deadline was appropriate.

“The right to vote has not been so endangered since Dr. King walked among us,” said Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and the majority leader.

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Manchin and Sinema condemned for opposing filibuster reform urged by Biden – live | US news

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16:13

Harry Reid’s casket arrives at the Capitol

The casket of Harry Reid has arrived at the US Capitol, where the former Senate majority leader will lie in state today.

Lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to pay their respects to Reid, who led the Senate Democratic caucus from 2005 to 2017.

Reid died late last month at the age of 82 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018.




 The casket of late Senator Harry Reid arrives at the US Capitol. Photograph: Al Drago/EPA

Barack Obama and Joe Biden both spoke at Reid’s funeral in his home state of Nevada over the weekend, remembering him as a dedicated leader who stood up for his beliefs.

“Harry would always have your back, like the kids I grew up with in Scranton,” Biden said.

“His story was unmistakably American. He was proof that there is nothing ordinary about America, and that Americans can do anything given half a chance.”










15:45

One reporter asked Joe Manchin for his response to Joe Biden’s speech on voting rights legislation and Senate filibuster reform.

Biden said in Atlanta, Georgia, yesterday, “When it comes to protecting majority rule in America, the majority should rule in the United States Senate.”

Manchin told CNN, “He understands. We all understand how the Senate works.” He did not provide any further insight into what Senate rule changes he may support.

Manu Raju
(@mkraju)

Asked Manchin about Biden saying that a “majority should rule in the United States Senate,” and he said: “He understands – we all understand how the Senate works,” declining to further weigh in

January 12, 2022










15:25

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has met with both Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema in the past day, since Joe Biden called on Democrats to change the filibuster to pass voting rights bills.

Speaking to reporters after his meetings with the centrist senators, Schumer said Democrats are “not there yet” on agreeing to rule changes.

Julie Tsirkin
(@JulieNBCNews)

Schumer tells us “we are not there yet” on securing Manchin + Sinema’s support on a rules change to pass the voting rights bills, after holding mtgs with both of them in the last day.

I asked if they’ll vote no matter what: “The answer is we’re going to hold a vote, yes.”

January 12, 2022

Asked by NBC News whether he still planned to hold a vote in the coming days, Schumer replied, “The answer is we’re going to hold a vote, yes.”

The Democratic leader has set a deadline of 17 January, Martin Luther King Day, to vote on rule changes that would clear the way for voting rights bills.










15:06

US inflation jumped 7% in December

Lauren Aratani

The price of goods and services in the US continue to rise at rates unseen in decades, jumping 7% in December compared to the same month last year – the seventh consecutive month in which inflation has topped 5%.

The news represents a blow to the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve, which until recently have characterized soaring prices as a “transitory” phenomenon brought about by supply chain issues triggered by the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the labor department said the consumer price index (CPI) – which measures what consumers pay for a wide range of goods – rose 0.5% last month compared with November and 7% compared with December 2020.

Price increases in housing and used cars and trucks were the largest contributors to the inflation rate, with 0.4% and 3.5% increases in price compared with November, respectively. Food prices also continued to increase, though the 0.5% jump in prices is not as high as increases seen in previous months.










14:42

Despite the focus on centrists Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, it’s unclear whether the other 48 members of the Senate Democratic caucus support changing the filibuster.

Politico reported on Monday:

Mark Kelly is not yet committed to a change in the Senate rules that would allow elections reform legislation to pass by a simple majority. A centrist who is up for reelection in November, Kelly said Monday he is still undecided just days before he may have to vote on proposals to weaken the filibuster. …

For a caucus that prides itself on unity, there’s plenty of nuance in Democrats’ views.

Some, like Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) like a talking filibuster but are ‘not crazy’ about making an exception for voting rights. Meanwhile, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) says reform is needed but is promoting more modest changes. She cites the near-impossible odds the party faces in getting all 50 Democrats on board for changing the filibuster unilaterally, also known as the ‘nuclear option.’

And with the 50-50 split in the Senate, majority leader Chuck Schumer cannot afford a single defection within the caucus if he wants to get rule changes approved and pass voting rights bills.










14:42

The Guardian’s Sam Levine and Jewel Wicker report:

Joe Biden on Tuesday gave his most forceful endorsement to date of changing the Senate filibuster rule in order to pass sweeping voting rights legislation, saying he was “tired of being quiet” in a high-profile speech in Georgia.

In one of the most significant speeches of his presidency so far, Biden drew a connection in history between the civil rights movement, the 6 January attack on the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump, and the unprecedented efforts in many states to restrict the vote over the last year.

He said America was at a moment to choose “democracy over autocracy”.

But despite the passion, some prominent Georgia civil rights activists, proclaiming themselves more interested in action than speeches, declined to attend the event in Atlanta on Tuesday where Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris spoke and urged progress in Congress to pass key legislation currently stalled there.










14:42

Schumer calls out Manchin and Sinema after Biden demands action on voting rights

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer called out centrists Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema by name last night, after Joe Biden urged Democrats to change the filibuster to clear the way for a voting rights bill.

“I don’t want to delude your listeners, this is an uphill fight,” Schumer said at an event with the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. “Because Manchin and Sinema do not believe in changing the rules.”

Sam Levine
(@srl)

“I don’t want to delude your listeners, this is an uphill fight, because Manchin and Sinema do not believe in changing the rules,” Sen. Schumer says at Center for American Progress event on potential changes to the filibuster

January 12, 2022

Schumer’s comments came hours after Biden delivered his most direct appeal yet for filibuster reform, arguing that senators needed to prioritize the health of American democracy above all else.

“Let the majority prevail,” Biden said in Atlanta, Georgia. “And if that bare minimum is blocked, we have no option but to change the Senate rules, including getting rid of the filibuster for this.”

But it’s unclear whether the pressure campaign is going to work. Manchin indicated yesterday that he still wants bipartisan support for any rule changes, which seems virtually impossible given Republicans’ unified opposition to filibuster reform.

And given the 50-50 split in the Senate, Schumer cannot move forward unless he has the support of every Democratic senator.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.



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