Cassidy backlash shows exiled Trump still haunts GOP. Cassidy criticized by state Rs, censured in his own hometown just for voting to advance the trial.
“Republican voters realize this is not healing," said Sen. Johnson. "They’d prefer we move on"
Cassidy has defended himself and criticized the Trump defense on camera.
“I don't usually do a poll before I take my vote. The vote I took is the conservative constitutional position,” he said.
A local radio host is calling him "Psycho Bill" and said he knifed GOP in the back
Cassidy flirted with a huge political risk in 2017 as he tried to get the GOP's bill to pass the "Jimmy Kimmel Test." That ended with Kimmel calling him a liar. But he took a huge leap on Tuesday
“It’s fraught with political consequence,” said Sen. John Thune, the GOP whip
Trump can't tweet attacks at Cassidy. But his supporters are doing it for him, to Liz Cheney, Ben Sasse and now Cassidy.
“I’ve been doing a lot of phone calls to donors. Most people that I talk to have moved on,” said NRSC Chairman Rick Scott (R-Fla.) about Trump’s trial.
"The real offense some folks are seeking to punish is that Sen. Cassidy is acting insufficiently loyal to one man. One man. And if that’s the case, it strikes me as the opposite of what it means to be a Republican," said Michael DiResto, a member of La. R State Central Committee.
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Sen. Sinema doesn't make waves often. But when she speaks, Democrats need to listen
“The minimum wage provision is not appropriate for the reconciliation process. It is not a budget item. And it shouldn’t be in there," she says in phone interview
If you want to know what drives Sinema, understand she's NEVER served in the majority before during her career
“There is no instance in which I would overrule a parliamentarian’s decision, ... I want to restore the 60-vote threshold for all elements of the Senate's work.”
When VP Harris went on air in W.Va. + Arizona, Manchin reacted publicly. Sinema was equally unhappy but decided to keep her feelings private
“It’s not effective to pressure me on anything," she says. Says her constituents don't care about "palace intrigue"
Wow Cassidy absolutely goes off on Trump legal team
“The House managers were focused, they were organized ... they made a compelling argument. President Trump’s team, they were disorganized, they did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand”
“If I’m an impartial juror and one aide is doing a great job and the other side is doing a terrible job on the issue at hand, as an impartial juror I’m going to vote for the side that did a good job.”
I asked him to elaborate
“Did you listen to it? OK then it speaks for itself”
“Disorganized, random. They talked about many things but they didn’t talk about the issue at hand”
Republicans can and probably will bring this up again on covid aid package.
“if you are the legal child, citizen of the United States, of an undocumented person, should you receive a check? I say yes,” Durbin said. he will try “to explain it to those who voted the other way.”
Domingo Garcia, national president of LULAC: “We still have a lot of work to do in convincing a lot of senators in purple states.” He takes issue with Hickenlooper supporting amendment
“Colorado is a solid blue state. There is no need for him to be pandering to the right.”
Meet Joe Manchin, the Democrats' deciding vote on just about everything
“He’s kind of the Democratic version of John McCain,” said Sen. Tester. "Joe’s a hard guy to figure out how to lead. You know? He dances to his own music.”
Senators watch his TV hits to figure out what's going on in. As critical to understanding agenda as anything
“Joe loves to be in the middle of the action. And if you’re unsure about what he’s thinking in that moment, just turn on any TV set and there he is,” said Sen. Capito
Manchin has spoken to Biden several times over the past week. He relayed one about Biden lamenting how working with GOP on ACA was fruitless
“Joe, I don’t have time to do that again,” Biden told Manchin.
Manchin replied: “I respect that Mr. President, I really do.”
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.