The busy start to the 2022 legislative session Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised before they all left for the Christmas break has kind of fizzled. Because of the snow storm that hit D.C., votes that were scheduled for Monday have been pushed to Wednesday. The House isn’t going to come back into session until next week, though there will be a several events Thursday marking the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Whether many Senate Republicans bother to show up in D.C. at all this week is in question. They most definitely don’t want to have to answer any questions about Jan. 6 or Trump or the fact that eight of them voted to decertify President Joe Biden’s win even after they were attacked by a vicious, violent mob attempting a coup. Many of them instead will be at a conveniently timed funeral in Atlanta for former Sen. Johnny Isakson, who died on Dec. 19. That pretty much ensures that none of the Republicans leadership will be around to have to make public statements about the attack.
The Senate Rules Committee is holding an oversight hearing Thursday to examine the Capitol Police response on Jan. 6. There are some Republicans around for the hearing to posture, like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. He was one of those eight voting to decertify the election after the riot, who promoted the Big Lie. He had the gall to ask Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, “What could have been done to better secure the Capitol to stop the riot outside and prevent them from penetrating as far as they did?”
He asked that with the knowledge that the guy who instigated the riot and who had the power to end it was watching it all on television and calling a Republican senator to convince him to keep fighting the ballot certification.
Schumer also testified at Wednesday’s hearing. “January 6 was not a merely a senseless act of mob violence that sprung up spontaneously,” Schumer said. “It was an attempt to reverse by violent means the outcome of a free and fair election.”
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“Make no mistake,” he continued, “the root cause of January 6 is still with us today. It is the big lie pushed by Donald Trump that is undermining faith in our political system and making our democracy, our country less safe.” He said that the “biggest threat to our Capitol Police and our democracy is the insidious, insidious motives stemming from the big lie propagated by the former president and many of his Republican allies across the country.” That has to be countered, he said. “Without addressing the root causes of the violence on on January 6, the insurrection will not be an aberration. It could well become the norm.”
While he was talking to the committee, Schumer was no doubt intending for his audience to be Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the two senators he needs to convince to help break the Republican filibuster on voting rights, if nothing else. Schumer has promised that on or before Jan. 17, 2022, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, he will force a vote on filibuster changes to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Amendments Act.
Following a meeting on the issue with Schumer and Democrats working on filibuster reform Tuesday night, Manchin suggested he might be open to some small changes. “I think the filibuster needs to stay in place, any way, shape or form that we can do it,” he said, adding that he was “optimistic” some Republicans could back some of those changes if there was something in it for them, too, like easing the path for legislation to get to the floor.
He would consider getting rid of the roadblock of 60 votes for even starting debate on legislation, he says. He also is supportive of the return to a talking filibuster—requiring the opposition to actually stand on the floor explaining it for as long as they can—but is holding out on “how do you get off of it,” or what happens when the debate stops. Most of the reform-minded Democrats want a simple majority vote to follow, but Manchin is against that. He still wants a supermajority requirement, and what he has floated is, well, somewhat unfortunate in the way he is framing it considering the Jim Crow origins of the modern filibuster.
“I’m for three fifths, voting … That to me makes a lot of sense.” He means the filibuster could be broken with three-fifths of senators present and voting rather than the current 60-vote margin requirement.
Unfortunate rhetoric from Manchin aside, his showing any willingness to bend at all is enough to get Sen. Mitch McConnell mouthing support for some kind of election reform—in this case the Electoral Count Act, which has been gaining steam in conservative never-Trumper circles. The reform proposed is necessary, making it harder for members of Congress to overturn election certifications, but it is not sufficient for addressing all of the voter suppression and gerrymandering Republican states have embarked upon.
As Schumer says, this reform “says you can rig the elections anyway you want and then we’ll count it accurately.” The counting is important, but what they’re counting is vital. It’s the kind of thing that really appeals to Manchin, though: being able to put a “bipartisan” stamp on an election reform and calling it done.
One way or another, democracy is on the line this week and next. Perhaps the memory of what happened a year ago will shake Manchin and Sinema out of their complacency. If it doesn’t, it’s hard to know what could.
Whether many Senate Republicans bother to show up in D.C. at all this week is in question. They most definitely don’t want to have to answer any questions about Jan. 6 or Trump or the fact that eight of them voted to decertify President Joe Biden’s win even after they were attacked by a vicious, violent mob attempting a coup. Many of them instead will be at a conveniently timed funeral in Atlanta for former Sen. Johnny Isakson, who died on Dec. 19. That pretty much ensures that none of the Republicans leadership will be around to have to make public statements about the attack.
The Senate Rules Committee is holding an oversight hearing Thursday to examine the Capitol Police response on Jan. 6. There are some Republicans around for the hearing to posture, like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. He was one of those eight voting to decertify the election after the riot, who promoted the Big Lie. He had the gall to ask Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, “What could have been done to better secure the Capitol to stop the riot outside and prevent them from penetrating as far as they did?”
He asked that with the knowledge that the guy who instigated the riot and who had the power to end it was watching it all on television and calling a Republican senator to convince him to keep fighting the ballot certification.
Schumer also testified at Wednesday’s hearing. “January 6 was not a merely a senseless act of mob violence that sprung up spontaneously,” Schumer said. “It was an attempt to reverse by violent means the outcome of a free and fair election.”
YouTube Video
“Make no mistake,” he continued, “the root cause of January 6 is still with us today. It is the big lie pushed by Donald Trump that is undermining faith in our political system and making our democracy, our country less safe.” He said that the “biggest threat to our Capitol Police and our democracy is the insidious, insidious motives stemming from the big lie propagated by the former president and many of his Republican allies across the country.” That has to be countered, he said. “Without addressing the root causes of the violence on on January 6, the insurrection will not be an aberration. It could well become the norm.”
While he was talking to the committee, Schumer was no doubt intending for his audience to be Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the two senators he needs to convince to help break the Republican filibuster on voting rights, if nothing else. Schumer has promised that on or before Jan. 17, 2022, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, he will force a vote on filibuster changes to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Amendments Act.
Following a meeting on the issue with Schumer and Democrats working on filibuster reform Tuesday night, Manchin suggested he might be open to some small changes. “I think the filibuster needs to stay in place, any way, shape or form that we can do it,” he said, adding that he was “optimistic” some Republicans could back some of those changes if there was something in it for them, too, like easing the path for legislation to get to the floor.
He would consider getting rid of the roadblock of 60 votes for even starting debate on legislation, he says. He also is supportive of the return to a talking filibuster—requiring the opposition to actually stand on the floor explaining it for as long as they can—but is holding out on “how do you get off of it,” or what happens when the debate stops. Most of the reform-minded Democrats want a simple majority vote to follow, but Manchin is against that. He still wants a supermajority requirement, and what he has floated is, well, somewhat unfortunate in the way he is framing it considering the Jim Crow origins of the modern filibuster.
“I’m for three fifths, voting … That to me makes a lot of sense.” He means the filibuster could be broken with three-fifths of senators present and voting rather than the current 60-vote margin requirement.
Unfortunate rhetoric from Manchin aside, his showing any willingness to bend at all is enough to get Sen. Mitch McConnell mouthing support for some kind of election reform—in this case the Electoral Count Act, which has been gaining steam in conservative never-Trumper circles. The reform proposed is necessary, making it harder for members of Congress to overturn election certifications, but it is not sufficient for addressing all of the voter suppression and gerrymandering Republican states have embarked upon.
As Schumer says, this reform “says you can rig the elections anyway you want and then we’ll count it accurately.” The counting is important, but what they’re counting is vital. It’s the kind of thing that really appeals to Manchin, though: being able to put a “bipartisan” stamp on an election reform and calling it done.
One way or another, democracy is on the line this week and next. Perhaps the memory of what happened a year ago will shake Manchin and Sinema out of their complacency. If it doesn’t, it’s hard to know what could.