Today's politics recap
- Joe Biden met with the White House Covid-19 response team amid the surge from the Omicron variant, and urged Americans get vaccinated. “There’s no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated,” he said and emphasized the importance of schools remaining open.
- Meanwhile, more than 1.08 million people across the country tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday – a global daily record. And Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has announced that he will sue the Biden administration over the vaccine mandate for the National Guard.
- Senator Tim Kaine was stuck in his car on Interstate 95 in Virginia for 27 hours, one of the thousands stranded by yesterday’s snowstorm. The snow delays caused the Senate to cancel votes for the second day in a row, with senators unable to reach Washington because of canceled flights.
- The 6 January committee is seeking information from Fox News’s Sean Hannity. The House select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection last month revealed that Hannity had messaged former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the riot at the Capitol.
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Donald Trump has canceled a scheduled press conference on 6 January, blaming the House committee investigating the insurrection.“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said.
– Vivian Ho, Maanvi Singh, Guardian staff
Updated
Donald Trump has canceled a scheduled press conference on 6 January, blaming the House committee investigating the insurrection.
“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said.
The cancellation comes as the House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 homes in on Trump’s inner circle, today requesting the cooperation of Trump adviser and Fox News host, Sean Hannity.
Updated
As Republicans spread a revisionist history of the insurrection, its perpetrators are celebrated and even elected to public office.
Nick Robins-Early reports:
It’s been one year since a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol, as the “stop the steal” rally demanding to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election turned into a deadly insurrection.
After the attack, the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation mobilized one of the largest criminal investigations in American history. Those efforts have so far resulted in more than 700 federal cases and counting, with more suspects expected to be charged. But for all that we have learned about the insurrection and the people who took part in it, crucial questions remain about the fallout of the attack for the far right and what it means to hold its perpetrators accountable.
Federal prosecutors want the arrests and convictions of those responsible to act as a deterrent against extremism and future attempts to undermine democracy, experts say, but despite more than 150 guilty pleas so far, the legacy of 6 January is already contentious. A judicial debate has emerged over the appropriate sentencing for rioters, while trials in the coming months will test whether prosecutors can secure convictions on more serious charges facing far-right extremists.
The fundamental understanding of what happened on 6 January is also being increasingly contested, as Republican lawmakers and rightwing media attempt to whitewash the events and reframe the insurrection as an act of justified political protest. More than any court case, researchers say, this revisionist narrative may have long-lasting implications for the far right and for political violence in America.
Read more:
Updated
The 6 January committee seeking cooperation from Fox's Hannity
The 6 January committee is seeking information from Fox News’s Sean Hannity, the group’s chair Bennie Thompson and vice-chair Liz Cheney have announced.
In a letter to Hannity, they wrote:
The Select Committee now has information in its possession, as outlined in part below, indicating that you had advance knowledge regarding President Trump’s and his legal team’s planning for January 6th. It also appears that you were expressing concerns and providing advice to the President and certain White House staff regarding that planning. You also had relevant communications while the riot was underway, and in the days thereafter. These communications make you a fact witness in our investigation.
The House select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection last month revealed that Hannity had messaged former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the riot at the Capitol. Hannity has been a major supporter of Trump on his Fox show, as well as an adviser to the former president.
During the attack on the Capitol, records show that Hannity texted Meadows: “Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol?” But the anchor has never publicly blamed Trump for riling up the crowd that went on to riot.
Updated
US reports global record of more than 1m daily Covid cases
Alexandra Villarreal and Samantha Lock report:
More than 1.08 million people across the country tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday – a global daily record, data from Johns Hopkins University revealed.
The deluge of infections is forcing government officials, employers and citizens to weigh their risk tolerance as Americans enter year three of a devastating pandemic that has upended lives and livelihoods.
Although evidence suggests Omicron is generally more mild and less lethal than other strains, the volume of new cases has been followed by an increase in hospitalizations, threatening to once again overwhelm beleaguered hospitals.
Medical experts are sounding the alarm that the Omicron wave could be particularly harmful to children, as pediatric admissions of patients with Covid-19 reach record highs.
“This narrative that it’s just a mild virus is not accurate,” Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN.
“We’ve just done a terrible job vaccinating our kids across the country. So even though there’s a lot of happy talk about the Omicron variant, less severe disease, when you add up all the factors … we’ve got a very serious situation facing us in this country, especially for the kids.”
Monday’s number of new cases was almost double the previous record of about 590,000, set four days before.
While delays in reporting over the holiday period may have played a role, the new record could be a significant underestimate. Many Americans are relying on tests taken at home with results not reported to authorities.
Amid the deepening crisis, schools and businesses are facing difficult decisions. Classrooms in cities including Detroit, Los Angeles, Newark, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Atlanta are closing as infections soar, opting for virtual learning or delaying students’ return.
Read more:
Today so far
- Joe Biden met with the White House Covid-19 response team amid the surge from the Omicron variant, and had strong words for the American people: “There’s no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated.” He said he supported schools staying open, even for the children who cannot be vaccinated, because the ones getting vaccinated should provide protection enough to keep them safe.
- A record 4.5 million Americans quit or left their jobs in the month of November, yet another sign of the impact the pandemic has had on the economy.
- Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has announced that he will sue the Biden administration over the vaccine mandate for the National Guard.
- Senator Tim Kaine was stuck in his car on the Interstate 95 in Virginia for 27 hours, one of thousands stranded by yesterday’s snowstorm. The snow delays caused the Senate to cancel votes for a second day in a row, with senators unable to reach Washington because of canceled flights.
After 27+ hours on the road from Richmond to DC, @timkaine is safely back in the Capitol. Still in good spirits! pic.twitter.com/VV9SKdDeNM
— Katie Stuntz (@kastuntz) January 4, 2022
Updated
In a surprise to no one, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has objections to the Democrats and their plan to change the filibuster rules.
Reminder that the filibuster is a much-beloved parliamentarian tactic, used often by the Republicans to stymie the Democrats’ legislation. Senate Republicans used it repeatedly to block legislation on voter rights protections, which is why Democrats are looking to change it now – before or on 17 January, Martin Luther King Jr Day, according to senate majority leader Chuck Schumer.
McConnell objects to Democrats’ plans to change filibuster rules to pass democracy/election legislation. “Make no mistake about it, this is genuine radicalism,” he says. “They want to turn the Senate into the House. They want to make it easy to fundamentally change the country.” pic.twitter.com/p9EHFdt2Re
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 4, 2022
“There is no such thing as a narrow exception,” McConnell says of Dem talk to create a filibuster carveout for voting and elections legislation. “This is genuine radicalism.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2022
Updated
Three more police officers sue Trump over 6 January attack
A Capitol police officer and two Metropolitan police officers who responded to the 6 January attack on the US Capitol have sued former president Donald Trump, seeking damages for their physical and emotional injuries, Politico is reporting.
With the one-year anniversary approaching, Capitol police officer Marcus Moore, a 10-year veteran of the force, is one of hundreds of officers who say they were traumatized by the attack and blame Trump for the actions of the rioters. He said the explosions inside and outside the building left him with tinnitus.
Bobby Tabron and DeDivine Carter, the Metropolitan police officers, said they were assaulted with poles, pepper spray and other projectiles while responding to the west front of the Capitol.
“Officer Tabron was fighting for his life and felt certain he would not survive to make it home alive to his wife or see his family again,” the lawsuit reads. “He wondered when gunfire would erupt and how such a battle, if started, would end.”
This Friday, the supreme court is holding a special session over the Biden administration’s nationwide Covid-19 vaccine mandate for large businesses.
Supreme Court confirms all nine justices have received COVID booster shots. The news comes in advance of the court hearing arguments Friday over Biden's vaccine-or-testing requirements for large employers.
— John Fritze (@jfritze) January 4, 2022
Thankfully it appears many others had similar questions about the awful situation that Senator Tim Kaine and thousands of others found themselves in on Interstate 95 in Virginia after yesterday’s snowstorm left them stranded.
Tim Kaine, who has only eaten an orange since Sunday night, said of his 27-hour travel nightmare on I-95 that he'd sleep with the heater on "full blast" for ten minutes at a time, then turn the engine off so he could sleep for 20-30 minutes. Says the temps were around 12 degrees
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2022
Update!
Kaine is now back in the Capitol
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2022
Updated
Senator Tim Kaine is still stuck in traffic, 27 hours after hitting the road in the middle of yesterday’s snowstorm, and with that the Senate has canceled votes for a second day in a row because of snow delays.
Senate cancels votes for 2nd day in a row after DC snowstorm and delayed flights inhibit senators from making it to Capitol Hill.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 4, 2022
But more on Tim Kaine - we have questions. What is happening out there? How is his car still running? How does his phone still have battery? What is he doing about bathroom breaks? Has he slept? Does he have heat? Does he have car snacks?
Update: I've been on the road for 27 hours. https://t.co/waGSrARUEe
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) January 4, 2022
On Sunday, defense secretary Lloyd Austin said he tested positive for coronavirus. The Pentagon provided an update today, saying he continues to exhibit mild symptoms as he works from home:
Pentagon says U.S. Defense Secretary Austin continues to exhibit mild symptoms of COVID-19, working from home.
— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) January 4, 2022
“The president absolutely wants to get Build back Better done and is committed to getting Build Back Better done,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
But she would not answer whether Joe Biden was going to negotiate on the child tax credit, one of the main points that moderate senator Joe Manchin refuses to be swayed on - she said the president was having discussions with a number of senators about the Build Back Better Act.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has taken the podium for the White House press briefing.
She said we could expect Joe Biden to speak of the historical significance of 6 January on the anniversary later this week, of how it was an “unprecedented assault on our democracy” - and the work that must still be done to reject the hatred and lies that allowed the attack to take place.
Updated
Biden: there's 'no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated'
Joe Biden urged Americans today to once again get vaccinated against Covid-19 and get their booster shots, saying that at this point in time there’s “no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated”.
“We have in hand all the vaccines we need to get every American fully vaccinated, including the booster shot,” he said. “There’s no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated. This continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated so we need to make more progress.”
BIDEN: "There is no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated. This continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated." pic.twitter.com/gepB9F1wAN
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 4, 2022
Updated
“Folks, I know we’re all tired and frustrated by the pandemic,” Joe Biden ended his address. “We’re going to get through this. We have the tools to protect people from severe illness from Omicron if people use the tools.”
Biden once again urged those who were eligible to get vaccinated and boosted.
“There’s a lot to be hopeful for in 2022,” he said. “For God’s sake, please take advantage of what’s available.”
Joe Biden admitted that coronavirus testing has been frustrating, but “we’re making improvements”.
“The last two weeks, we set up federal testing sites all over the country and we’re adding more each and every day,” he said.
He pushed for Americans to pick up free at-home tests and to sign up for programs to have at-home tests sent to their homes for free.
Updated
Joe Biden briefly addressed the public ahead of his meeting with the White House Covid-19 response team.
He said schools should remain open because at this point, experts don’t know if the Omicron variant will be worse for children than the other variants.
More than 70 million Americans have received booster shots so far, Biden said.
Texas governor to sue Biden administration over National Guard vaccine mandate
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, sent a letter Tuesday announcing his intention to the Biden administration for its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for National Guard members.
“As the commander-in-chief of Texas’s militia, I have issued a straightforward order to every member of the Texas National Guard within my chain of command: Do not punish any guardsman for choosing not to receive a Covid-19 vaccine,” reads the letter. “Unless President Biden federalizes the Texas National Guard in accordance with Title 10 of the U.S. Code, he is not your commander-in-chief under our federal or state Constitutions. And as long as I am your commander-in-chief, I will not tolerate efforts to compel receipt of a Covid-19 vaccine.”
As commander-in-chief of Texas' militia, I will not tolerate Biden's efforts to compel Guardsmen to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 4, 2022
That is why I am suing the Biden Admin. over its latest unconstitutional vaccine mandate.
Read my full letter:https://t.co/kt4prg1w4c
“Let me be crystal clear: It is the federal government that has put Texas’s guardsmen in this difficult position,” the letter continued. “As your commander-in-chief, I will fight on your behalf. That is why I am suing the Biden administration over its latest unconstitutional vaccine mandate.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has issued a notice about some of the events planned at the US Capitol on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the insurrection last January by extremist supporters of Donald Trump intent on violently breaking in and stopping the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.
The mob succeeded in the former, forcibly breaking and entering the Capitol after overwhelming inadequate police numbers and barricades, but failed in the latter - Biden’s presidential victory was formally certified by the reconvened US Congress in the early hours of January 7.
This Thursday, Biden and the vice president, Kamala Harris, will both remarks in an event at 9am ET in National Statuary Hall, the historic space in the bowels of the Capitol, located just south of the central rotunda.
Pelosi will lead a moment of reflection at 10am ET on the House floor, which was overrun by insurrectionists just moments after lawmakers managed to evacuate from the chamber.
There are some other things planned after that. There is no expectation at this point of a repeat of right-wing crowds gathering and attacking the Capitol. They rushed the building last year after being exhorted by Trump at a rally near the White House to “fight like hell” to prevent Congress officially certifying Biden’s victory over him in the November, 2020, election.
Interim summary
Spinning between a massive snowstorm and the anniversary of the insurrection on January 6, 2021, by extremist supporters of Donald Trump at the US Capitol, Washington, DC is doing its best to move forward.
Please stay tuned for the rest of the day’s news in American politics but, meanwhile, here’s where things stand today:
- What’s the state of dialogue on Joe Biden’s stalled Build Back Better flagship piece of legislation? As far as human roadblock Joe Manchin is concerned, it’s the sound of silence from the White House, apparently. Not a great sign.
- New York state’s Albany county district attorney said prosecutors are dropping the forcible touching case against disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo.
- A record 4.5 million workers quit or changed jobs in November - a continuation of the trend of high turnover in the labor market that has been prevalent in the nearly two years since the onset of the pandemic.
- Joe Biden is due to meet the White House Covid-19 team of advisers at 2pm ET, following the news that the US set a global daily record on Monday with more than 1 million people diagnosed with coronavirus, amid the Omicron wave.
The Guardian’s Rashida Kamal has more on what is being known as the “Great Resignation” - workers quitting or leaving their jobs at unprecedented numbers.
In November, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, beating out the previous record of 4.4 million Americans in September.
From Kamal’s piece:
“The reasons for quitting or dropping out of the labor force are quite varied. The top reasons cited by experts continue to be lack of adequate childcare and health concerns about Covid, now exacerbated by Omicron. And while the framing of the Great Resignation places some emphasis on the idea that even knowledge workers are quitting from burnout or a sympathy with the budding anti-work movement, there are just as many reasons to suspect that many quit in search of better work opportunities, self employment, or, simply, higher pay.
Tellingly, some industries are seeing higher rates of quitting than others – leisure and hospitality, retail and healthcare being among the most affected.”
Read more here:
Updated
Some more on Build Back Better:
It was moderate senator Joe Manchin that famously threw a wrench in the Democrats’ plans to pass the ambitious $1.7tn social spending bill, saying he could not abide by the legislation’s child tax credit, among other things.
Now it appears that since the start of the new session, no one has reached out to Manchin to discuss the matter further.
"There's been no conversations," Manchin says about BBB talks with the WH.
— Lauren Fox (@FoxReports) January 4, 2022
He says he hasn't seriously engaged with the WH since his Fox news interview. He adds "I feel as strongly today as I did then"
The Albany county district attorney has released a statement saying that prosecutors are dropping the forcible touching case against the former governor.
Cuomo was forced to resign from his position as governor in August amid findings that he sexually harassed 11 women.
NEW: The Albany County District Attorney confirms prosecutors have dropped the forcible touching case against former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
— Luis Ferré-Sadurní (@luisferre) January 4, 2022
Story soon. pic.twitter.com/cK3Qg85OD0
The criminal complaint did not name the woman who accused Cuomo of forcible touching, but she has identified herself as Brittany Commisso, one of Cuomo’s executive assistants. She said Cuomo slid his hand up her blouse and grabbed her breast when they were alone in an office at the governor’s mansion in Albany in late 2020, according to the Associated Press.
Commisso “had no control over the filing or prosecution of criminal charges. She had no authority or voice in those decisions,” her lawyer, Brian Premo, said in a statement.
“The only thing she has any power over is her resolution to continue to speak the truth and seek justice in an appropriate civil action, which she will do in due course,” he added.
Cuomo has denied groping Commisso.
Yesterday, an attorney for former New York governor Andrew Cuomo said that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office had closed the investigation into Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic and decided to file no charges. Cuomo’s Covid-19 taskforce had altered a report that omitted 9,250 of the total nursing home patients killed by the coronavirus.
Updated
We have a small update on the Build Back Better Act, and the Democrats’ next move.
It appears Democratic whip Dick Durbin is telling reporters that any action on Build Back Better will have to wait until the vote to change filibuster rules - which senate majority leader Chuck Schumer ambitiously said would happen before or on 17 January, Martin Luther King Jr Day.
Durbin indicates that action on Build Back Better bill will wait until Dems’ vote to change rules to advance billl overhauling voting laws. Rules changes on the table: Talking filibuster, carve-out. To nuke filibuster, they will need Manchin and Sinema and they don’t have them
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2022
Nearly a year after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, only about four in 10 Republicans believe the 6 January riot that injured more than 100 law enforcement personnel was very or extremely violent.
The insurrection shocked the world as dramatic footage showed a mob invading Congress in a last-ditch effort to stop certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
A new poll – conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in early December – finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans and the vast majority of Democrats say the siege was very or extremely violent.
But Republicans largely disagree, with 32% saying the insurrection was only somewhat violent and another 29% claiming it was not very or not at all violent.
Meanwhile, 57% of Americans say Donald Trump bears significant responsibility for the riot. But only 22% of Republicans believe the same and 60% claim “he had little to no responsibility”.
Here’s some further reading on 6 January, from Hugo Lowell:
Report: A record 4.5 million workers quit or changed jobs in November
The Washington Post is reporting that a record 4.5 million workers quit or changed jobs in November - a continuation of the trend of high turnover in the labor market that has been prevalent in the nearly two years since the onset of the pandemic.
In October, the Department of Labor reported that 4.2 million had quit or changed jobs, and in September, 4.4 million - the previous record.
The most significant increases in resignations or job changes took place among sectors heavily impacted by the pandemic - where workers must have person-to-person contact, putting them most at risk for infection. These include restaurant and bar workers, health-care workers, and transportation, warehousing and utilities workers.
These are also industries that are now complaining about a labor shortage.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job openings and labor turnover survey, the ones who quit or changed jobs in November make up just 3% of the workforce. With the country adding more than 500,000 jobs a month through the first 11 months of the year. there are currently about 10.6 million job openings.
The extremist Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene “might be a Democrat – or just an idiot” – according to a fellow hardline conservative.
Dan Crenshaw, a Texas congressman and former Navy Seal, threw the barb back at the Georgia congresswoman in a spat over his support for using the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to operate Covid testing sites.
The US is experiencing a crippling surge of Covid cases thanks to the infectious Omicron variant, with more than 1m recorded on Monday and lack of access to testing hampering state and federal responses.
Greene has consistently spread Covid conspiracy theories. On Sunday, she was permanently suspended from Twitter, for spreading misinformation.
Full story:
The only politician ever to beat Barack Obama will retire from Congress at the end of the year.
Bobby Rush, a Democratic representative from Illinois, faced Obama in a House primary in 2000 – and beat him by more than 30 points. Obama went on to win a US Senate seat in 2004 and become the first Black president in 2009.
Rush said Obama, then 38, “was blinded by his ambition” and moved too soon, against the wrong target. Obama said he had his “rear end handed to me”.
Rush, 75 and first elected to Congress in 1992, is an ordained minister and social activist who co-founded the Illinois Black Panther Party and was described by Politico on Monday as “a legend in Chicago politics”.
In a video obtained by the Associated Press, he said: “I have been reassigned. Actually, I’m not retiring, I’m returning home. I’m returning to my church. I’m returning to my family. I have grandchildren. I’m returning to my passion.
“I will be in public life. I will be working hand in hand with someone who will replace me.”
Rush’s district is solidly Democratic but political rune-readers still found worrying signs for the national party.
Rush is the 24th Democrat to announce that they will not run in 2022. Only 11 Republicans have said the same.
Rob Portman, the Republican senator from Ohio, has tested positive for coronavirus.
“In preparation for returning to Washington DC, I took an at-home Covid test last night and it was positive,” Portman said.
“I am asymptomatic and feel fine. I have been in contact with the attending physician and my personal doctor. I am following their medical advice and following CDC guidelines and isolating for the recommended five days. I will work remotely from home this week, but will not be able to be in Washington, DC for votes.”
Capitol Hill, like the rest of the country, is the midst of an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 infections. Dr Brian Monahan, the attending physician at the US Capitol, advised lawmakers and staff in a letter yesterday to wear medical-grade masks rather than cloth ones, and adopt “a maximal telework posture” to reduce in-person meetings and in-office activities.
Updated
It looks like Washington is still feeling the after-effects of yesterday’s massive snowstorm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands on the eastern seaboard, snarled traffic and delayed Air Force One and took Joe Biden’s helicopter out of commission.
Tim Kaine, the Democratic senator from Virginia and former running mate of Hillary Clinton, tweeted that he had been stuck in traffic from Virginia to Washington for at least 19 hours.
I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol. My office is in touch with @VaDOT to see how we can help other Virginians in this situation. Please stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/Sz1b1hZJZ5
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) January 4, 2022
Unsurprising, considering that Virginia state police tallied at least 559 traffic crashes and 522 disabled and stuck vehicles across the state yesterday. Still, rough.
Biden to meet Covid advisers amid huge Omicron surge
Howdy, live blog readers. Happy Tuesday.
Today Joe Biden is set to meet with the White House Covid-19 response team as the Omicron variant continues to infect Americans at a rapid pace.
On Monday, the US set a global daily record with more than 1 million people diagnosed with coronavirus.
If you’ll recall from yesterday’s live blog, Congress is also experiencing an unprecedented uptick in infections, with the attending physician at the US Capitol reporting that the seven-day positivity rate at a congressional test site surging to 13% from just 1% in late November.
A limited sample as of 15 December found that 61% of those cases were of the Omicron variant and 38% of the Delta variant.
Yet there’s no stopping politics, especially after Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer threw down the deadline of 17 January, Martin Luther King Jr Day, to hold a vote to change filibuster rules in order to push ahead with voter rights protections.
Senate Democrats are holding a virtual meeting today to chat not just voting rights and filibuster reform - but the future of Build Back Better, Politico reports.
With the filibuster and Build Back Better, we can expect a lot of side-eyeing of moderates Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
