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Joe Biden spent more than three decades in the Senate. He understands its arcane rules. He once showed a prowess for shepherding complex legislation past obstinate Senators from both parties. But as he closes out his first year as President, Biden has failed to get two of his signature legislation efforts past Senators of his own party.
His trillion-plus dollar social spending and climate bill has been held up over objections to its price tag, corporate tax provisions and impact on polluting industries. And he has so far failed to sway Democrats to change Senate rules to pass laws designed to ensure the integrity of vote counting and access to polls. In the process, he’s alienated two key Democratic Senators: Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
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After months of bad days for Biden, Thursday got off to a uniquely rough start. An hour before the President was scheduled to make his pitch to Democratic Senators to eliminate the filibuster to ram through voting protections, Sinema stood on the Senate floor and torpedoed the plan, referencing her “long-standing support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation.” White House aides had been caught flat-footed that morning when they got word Sinema was going to tank the effort.
Biden had no real prospects after that. But he got in the black Presidential limo from the White House for the three-minute drive down Pennsylvania Avenue to Capitol Hill, anyway. When the President stepped into the Russell Senate Office Building, a reporter shouted: “Mr. President, how do you get this done?”
Biden turned and walked into the caucus meeting, ducking the most important question on the Hill on Thursday—and the question that may ultimately define his first term as President, as an increasing number of his key initiatives become stalled and Americans sour on his leadership. The pandemic he declared almost over in July is seeing yet another spike in cases. Millions of…
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Source : time
