Senates Rs and Biden clearly get along, spending 2 hours together. But there's no indication that Biden is thinking about backing off reconciliation or $1.9T
Sen. Capito says in interview afterward: "He didn’t tell us that that’s not going to happen,”
GOP pitch to Biden was this: Work with us and "we can do this very quickly and that budget reconciliation will be messier. It’s very partisan and it could also be much lengthier," Capito says.
But Biden talked about how many times he's been through reconciliation as senator!
Biden open to more targeted checks, focusing on lower-income folks. But Psaki statement shows Biden is relatively uncompromising about size + scope
"Congress must respond boldly and urgently, and [Biden] noted many areas which the Republican senators' proposal does not address."
To get a sense for where even centrist Dems are, let's turn to Tester
“This needs to be big enough to get the job done. If we’re having to come back time and time again I just don’t think that’s good for the economy or for certainty"
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First big Dem priority is at risk: $15 minimum wage. Might not get support of all 50 D senators, also possible issues with the parliamentarian in reconciliation. Manchin says he opposes, Sinema quiet, Kelly says he needs to see details
“What he said is one thing, but then you come to reality and gather more evidence and information,” Shelby said, reconciling McConnell’s criticisms of Trump with his vote against the trial’s constitutionality.
On Tuesday McConnell said only he’d listen to the trial arguments
McConnell declined to hold the trial in the immediate aftermath of the House’s vote. He believed doing so would short-circuit Trump’s due process for the trial. But in delaying the trial until after Trump left office, he also helped steer the GOP toward its dominant argument.
Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial will be conducted on the Senate floor, live on TV. The Senate investigation into Sens. Cruz and Hawley will take place behind closed doors by one of the most secretive committees in Congress: Senate Ethics
The probe into whether the two senators played a role in inciting the violent Capitol attack will unwind over an interminable timetable with little hint of where it is going.
“Neither of us are going to talk about it at all,” said Lankford, vice chair. Coons is chairman
7 Dems argue Cruz and Hawley ‘lent legitimacy” to the cause of those who invaded Capitol. Hawley fired back with a counter complaint alleging “improper conduct” for partisan gain.
Asked about Hawley’s counter-complaint, Sen. Smith pointed at her face: "You see my eye rolling?"
@lbarronlopez@marianne_levine “This is the smartest and best place for the president to start on his unity promises,” argued Sen. Capito. “That’s where I think the president has to show the leadership of what he has said he wants to do."
Sen. Portman told colleagues Dems/WH are "blowing it"
@lbarronlopez@marianne_levine Thune says coalition Rs "felt a little bit betrayed by the representations that they were getting about the Democrats’ intentions. And then having their leadership and the White House short-circuiting that and doing it all through reconciliation.”
Here’s how fragile Democrats’ Senate majority is: The brief Tuesday hospitalization of Senate pro tem Patrick Leahy prompted nearly everyone in the Capitol to research Vermont’s Senate vacancy laws, just in case.
@marianne_levine@meridithmcgraw Brian Jack, Trump’s former political director, quietly informed Senate Rs over the weekend that the 3rd-party thing is bunk.
Tump may play in primaries against those who convict them
More Cramer: “The Republican Party is still overwhelmingly supportive of this president.”
@marianne_levine@meridithmcgraw Almost no Senate Rs defending Trump. Tremendous contrast from last year's impeachment trial.
Braun, Barrasso indicate they won't hustle to cameras to defend Trump. Even Hawley says "The ex-president's rhetoric on the day was inflammatory. I think it was irresponsible."