OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Senate Democratic leaders have assessed that they will not be able to move President Biden’s latest massive spending bill called “Build Back Better” anytime soon so they are shifting instead to a ‘voting rights’ bill Republicans have blasted as a federal takeover of elections.
The news came in the form of a tweet Wednesday morning from Jesse Rodriguez, the vice president of editorial and booking at MSNBC.
“NBC News: Senate expected to shelve Build Back Better bill, moving forward aggressively now on voting rights,” he wrote.
NBC News: Senate expected to shelve Build Back Better bill, moving forward aggressively now on voting rights
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) December 15, 2021
Rodriguez then followed that tweet up with another containing a link to an NBC News report that provided more details:
Democrats in the Senate are preparing to miss their self-imposed deadline to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion social safety net bill before the end of the year, according to four sources familiar with planning by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.
The decision to try again next year is based on simple math — Schumer doesn’t have the 50 votes needed to pass the legislation thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who remains a hold out.
The decision is also in part because Senate Democrats haven’t finished negotiating the bill. Provisions on state and local taxes and the methane rule remain undecided. Senate Democrats also haven’t finished clearing all the procedural hurdles necessary to hold a vote.
The network quoted a pair of congressional sources, both of whom said that the vote on BBB could be delayed until March.
For his part, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that the legislation isn’t dead.
“The president and Sen. Manchin are having many discussions, and we’re waiting to see the outcome of those,” he said.
NBC then noted that Schumer is set to pivot to a so-called “voting rights” measure instead, which Republicans have blasted as a naked attempt to skew voting around the country and override legitimate voter integrity measures that have passed in several red states since the chaotic 2020 election.
They also note that under the Constitution, states have primary responsibility for establishing rules for voting, not Congress.
But that measure faces a major hurdle as well: No Republicans in the 50-50 chamber support it, so it can’t come close to the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
That, however, may not matter, as NBC News adds:
Senate Democrats are discussing changing the rules to allow for passage on a 50-vote majority, a move that remains uncertain. A group of four moderate Democrats, including Manchin, have held numerous meetings in the past several days to discuss a possible rule change. Additional meetings are planned for Wednesday.
“Schumer is hoping the small group working on voting rights rules change will find a path forward in the coming days,” a source familiar with discussions tells NBC News.
On his Wednesday morning program, American First’s “WarRoom” podcaster Steve Bannon blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whom he blamed for the current situation in the Senate:
We told you that this is what Mitch McConnell has brought upon us. I told you this was going to happen. He gave them $3 trillion and now he’s given them a pathway to federalize all of these elections which is the only way they can win and they understand that. They understand. They’ve seen the polls. These are not dumb people. These are cunning and crafty people. You could see this a mile away. Rick Scott and the people of the Senate ought to have a conference meeting today and they ought to take the leadership away from Mitch McConnell!
And if they don’t do it, the War Room posse is gonna force them to do it. Mark my words, his day is over, and the big donors in the Republican Party have had is back and better step up and get rid of this guy. Today.
