Here’s what we know…
Although President Joe Boden lacks the votes from Democrats to pass his $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan, on Monday (December 20), Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, announced that the Senate would vote on the bill early in the new year.
Schumer also made some startling announcements, saying that the Senate would “consider changes” to the threshold of 60 votes that have enabled Senate Republicans to impede legislation aimed at overhauling voting and elections that Democrats have tried passing for months.
This announcement by Schumer is likely to lead to further clashes with Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and the Democrats. Manchin has repeatedly opposed the Build Back Better plan, frustrating many Democrats in the process. However, this latest announcement by Schumer could point to the Democrat’s plans to forge ahead without Manchin, given that Schumer made the announcement a day after Manchin appeared on Fox News. In his appearance on Fox News, Manchin revealed that he would not be supporting the Build Back Better bill until some drastic changes were made.
Making it clear that his announcement was the result of tension between Democrats and Manchin, Schumer said that the Democrats were going to bring the Build Back Better Act before the Senate early in the new year, and when they did every member would have “the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television.” He also revealed that there were changes made to the Act since the House passed it, before warning that they would keep voting until something got done.
He concluded by saying that if Senate Republicans continued abusing the filibuster, the Senate would consider rules that hinder debate to reach a final conclusion on critical legislation.
