President Biden put a $15 wage in his Covid bill but he's backing away by saying it'll likely die under Senate rules. Bernie Sanders isn't happy—he says the policy is eligible for reconciliation and that it's now or never.
Trump lawyer Bruce Castor praises the "outstanding presentation" from managers.
"You will not hear any member of the team representing former President Trump say anything but in the strongest possible way denounce the violence of the rioters and those that breached the Capitol."
Trump's lawyer Bruce Castor calls US senators "extraordinary people, in the technical sense." Then discusses Everett Dirksen and his "commanding, gravely voice that just oozes belief and sincerity."
Bruce Castor: "This trial is about trading liberty for the security from the mob? Honestly, no. It can't be. We can't be thinking about that."
Democrats want to bulk up the Covid package with more cash relief, this time for families with kids, the latest sign of a shift within the party away from deficit fears and toward a larger economic safety net.
Democrats are haunted by memories of 2009, when they downsized their crisis aid bill only to see a slow recovery and get hammered for it politically the following year. nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
On Democrats’ new child allowance: A Columbia study of a similar plan found it’d cut child poverty 42%.
“The ACA — Biden called that a 'big f---ing deal,' and I think this is of the same magnitude in terms of investment in children,” says @SethHanlon.
Liz Cheney tells Fox News Sunday she won’t resign. “People have been lied to. The extent to which President Trump for months leading up to Jan. 6th spread the notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged was a lie and people need to understand that.”
Liz Cheney on Marjorie Taylor Greene: “We are the party of Lincoln, we are not the party of QAnon or anti-Semitism or Holocaust-deniers, or white supremacy or conspiracy theories. That's not who we are. We believe in conservative principles and conservative values.”
Cheney: “Somebody who has provoked an attack on the US Capitol to prevent the counting of electoral votes, which resulted in 5 ppl dying, who refused to stand up immediately...& stop the violence, that is a person who does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward.”
Republicans faced a similar problem in 2017 when they used reconciliation to pass a deficit-raising tax cut. But Democrats helped them stop some $25 billion in automatic Medicare cuts. Now, some wonder: Would the GOP do the same? nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
tl;dr —> The 2010 PAYGO law enacted by Democrats forces automatic cuts to Medicare and other safety-net programs if new policies raise the debt. Congress can stop the cuts (and often does). But that probably can't be done in reconciliation. Needs 60 votes. nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
New: 10 Republican senators write a letter asking to meet w/ Biden and discuss a Covid relief counter-proposal they’re working on. They say it’ll have $160b for vaccines, $4b for abuse services, existing UI, nutrition + unspecified policies on “targeted” economic aid and schools.
Notably, no Democrats are on this letter—it’s a GOP-only plan at a time when they’re in the minority in both chambers. It’s sure to face pushback from progressives who see $1.9T as a minimum. And it’ll test President Biden’s incompatible calls for going bold and being bipartisan.
The Republican letter comes as Dems are eying reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote rule on a Covid relief bill—it’s an attempt to steer Biden toward a different path. Schumer has insisted that going small isn’t an option.