Moderate Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema joined Joe Manchin in opposition to their own party’s massive $3.5 trillion spending plan Thursday; throwing the scheduled vote into doubt as leadership huddles with Members of Congress.
“Sen. Sinema said publicly more than two months ago, before Senate passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, that she would not support a bill costing $3.5 trillion,” she said in a statement posted on Twitter. “In August, she shared detailed concerns and priorities, including dollar figures, directly with Senate Majority Leader [Charles] Schumer [D-N.Y.] and the White House.”
“Claims that the senator has not detailed her views to President Bidenand Sen. Schumer are false,” she added. “While we do not negotiate through the press — because Sen. Sinema respects the integrity of those direct negotiations — she continues to engage directly in good-faith discussions with both President Biden and Sen. Schumer to find common ground.”
#BREAKING: Sinema joins Manchin in doubling down against $3.5 trillion spending target https://t.co/aM1rLOeCTy pic.twitter.com/C7wtWHJw7q
— The Hill (@thehill) September 30, 2021
Manchin spoke with the press outside the US Capitol Thursday afternoon.
“My top-line has been $1.5 [trillion],” Manchin told the crowd, saying he doesn’t want Congress to “change our whole society to an entitlement mentality.”
#BREAKING: Manchin says his spending limit is $1.5 trillion https://t.co/MJeuiyNVzS pic.twitter.com/KqVGpCKGxc
— The Hill (@thehill) September 30, 2021
“I didn’t think any of this was needed at this time. I thought the infrastructure bill was really what was needed but I said fine, this is a condition I would get to and that was a $1.5 [trillion package],” he said.
“At that point in time I was not in favor of moving on this type of piece of legislation. I wasn’t trying to be the fly in the ointment at all,” he added.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): "I've never been a liberal in any way, shape, or form," so if progressives want a bigger reconciliation bill, "elect more liberals." pic.twitter.com/Xkf7NLRMtp
— The Recount (@therecount) September 30, 2021
“I’ve never been a liberal in any way,” concluded the Senator. “I have voted consistently my whole life. They’re much more progressive and much more liberal. For them to get what they want, elect more liberals!”
Watch Manchin’s comments above.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
SINEMA SAYS ‘NO!’: Dem Senator Educates Colleagues on the Filibuster, Far-Left Hypocrisy
Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema educated her progressive colleagues on the filibuster over the weekend; penning an op-ed where she outlined the hypocrisy of far-left lawmakers who used the procedure just a few years ago.
“To those who want to eliminate the legislative filibuster to pass the For the People Act (voting-rights legislation I support and have co-sponsored), I would ask: Would it be good for our country if we did, only to see that legislation rescinded a few years from now and replaced by a nationwide voter-ID law or restrictions on voting by mail in federal elections, over the objections of the minority?” Sinema wrote in The Washington Post.
“This question is less about the immediate results from any of these Democratic or Republican goals,” she continued. “[I]t is the likelihood of repeated radical reversals in federal policy, cementing uncertainty, deepening divisions and further eroding Americans’ confidence in our government.”
“Once in a majority, it is tempting to believe you will stay in the majority. But a Democratic Senate minority used the 60-vote threshold just last year to filibuster a police reform proposal and a covid-relief bill that many Democrats viewed as inadequate,” Sinema wrote. “Those filibusters were mounted not as attempts to block progress, but to force continued negotiations toward better solutions.”
Read the full report here.
DEM CIVIL WAR: Sanders, Warren Rebuke Sinema for Protecting the Filibuster
Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren fired-back at fellow Democrat Kyrsten Sinema Tuesday after the lawmaker voiced her opposition to removing the filibuster.
“If Mitch McConnell believes that he will get even the tiniest advantage from removing the filibuster in the future, he will do it, regardless of what Democrats have done in the past,” Warren told reporters Tuesday when asked about Sinema’s arguments.
“I think that in this moment in American history, when there are coordinated efforts to undermine American democracy and take away the right of people to vote, the United States Congress has got to act and act decisively,” Sanders added.
“And if there is no Republican support to protect the rights of people of color, young people, people with disabilities to cast a ballot, the United States Senate has got to act and if it takes 50 votes and the vice president, that’s what it takes,” Sanders continued.
Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema educated her progressive colleagues on the filibuster over the weekend; penning an op-ed where she outlined the hypocrisy of far-left lawmakers who used the procedure just a few years ago.
“To those who want to eliminate the legislative filibuster to pass the For the People Act (voting-rights legislation I support and have co-sponsored), I would ask: Would it be good for our country if we did, only to see that legislation rescinded a few years from now and replaced by a nationwide voter-ID law or restrictions on voting by mail in federal elections, over the objections of the minority?” Sinema wrote in The Washington Post.
“This question is less about the immediate results from any of these Democratic or Republican goals,” she continued. “[I]t is the likelihood of repeated radical reversals in federal policy, cementing uncertainty, deepening divisions and further eroding Americans’ confidence in our government.”
“Once in a majority, it is tempting to believe you will stay in the majority. But a Democratic Senate minority used the 60-vote threshold just last year to filibuster a police reform proposal and a covid-relief bill that many Democrats viewed as inadequate,” Sinema wrote. “Those filibusters were mounted not as attempts to block progress, but to force continued negotiations toward better solutions.”
Read the full report here.
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