Democratic leaders are back to their old ways this week, trying to push through legislation they know won't pass and wrestling with how to explain their failures to the voters.
Democrats are stuck on their election reform legislation much like they're caught up in a stalemate with their $1.7 trillion party-line social spending plan There are many parallels between the bills, which have no GOP support, and the Senate centrist opposition. However, Democratic leaders have taken the stakes higher with their bid to shore up the Voting Rights Act, arguing the lack of action undermines democracy as a whole.
In all of these efforts, the top Democratic priority was to bend two centrists, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who will not backtrack on their defense of the upper chamber's rules empowering the minority party. However, as they approach the dreaded deadline on changing the Senate rules, Democratic rank-and-file lawmakers are beginning to recognize the looming defeat that their leaders won't acknowledge publicly.
According to Sen Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), "I tell people that we did our best to change the rules, and it's their responsibility that we weren't able to make progress."
18 Jan 2022
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