Democrats look to 2022 on Build Back Better
Senate struggles to leave town for Christmas
Democrats don’t see a Build Back Better deal this year. The Senate Parliamentarian gives Democrats a familiar ruling on immigration. And another House Democrat opts for retirement. This is “Regular Order” for December 17, 2021.
BUILD BACK BETTER. Democrats had been hoping for a pre-Christmas Miracle in the Senate on President Biden's social spending package, but the White House and Senate Democrats acknowledged on Thursday that more work needs to be done, and a deal on Build Back Better isn't expected before Christmas.
BIDEN. "I am determined to see this bill enacted into law," President Biden said in a statement. "My team and I are having ongoing discussions with Senator Manchin; that work will continue next week. It takes time to finalize these agreements," Mr. Biden added.
TRANSLATION. They aren't near a deal right now. Not only are Democrats still at odds on the details with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), but there are also major unsettled items like changes to SALT (state and local tax deduction).
IMMIGRATION. To no one's surprise, the Senate Parliamentarian has given a thumbs down to a third proposal from Democrats to include major immigration changes in the Build Back Better package. "We strongly disagree with the Senate parliamentarian’s interpretation of our immigration proposal," said a group of Senate Democrats on Thursday.
CITIZENSHIP. While Republicans characterize the immigration provisions as 'amnesty' in Build Back Better, Senate Democrats have not been able to get anything close to a pathway to citizenship in this bill.
HOUSE. "Overrule the Parliamentarian," said Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), as House Democrats were again outraged at the latest immigration setback. But Democrats don't have 50 votes in the Senate to do that.
FRIDAY SENATE. While the House has gone home for Christmas, the Senate is still at work - even though no action is anticipated on any major bills. Instead, Democrats have teed up 22 different nominations for procedural votes - with many more possible if there's no deal with the GOP.
GOP HOLDUP. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) have blocked dozens of Biden nominees from getting final Senate approval. Democrats have threatened to keep the Senate working until Christmas to approve as many as possible - if there's no deal with the GOP.
EXAMPLES. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) blocked six nominations on Thursday, including the head of the Federal Railroad Administration, an Assistant Secretary of Transportation, and a Federal Maritime Commissioner.
WEEKEND. Having watched the Senate for four decades, it’s obvious that way too much time is wasted now on processing nominations. And if the Senate works this weekend on nominees, most of America won’t know it.
HOLIDAY BREAK. As the Senate inches toward a holiday break, some Senators are already voting with their feet. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week, 99 Senators were present and voting. Only Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), who has been out sick, was not on Capitol Hill.
SHRINKING SENATE. The first vote on Thursday had 96 Senators, as Senators Cassidy (R-LA), Cramer (R-ND), and Rounds (R-SD) joined Lummis in missing the vote. By the final vote of the day, only 90 Senators had voted, as Ernst (R-IA), Feinstein (D-CA), Fischer (R-NE), Johnson (R-WI), Leahy (D-VT), and Risch (R-ID) were absent.
BED CHECK. The Senate is not in session very often on a Friday. The first vote is set for 10 am today - we'll see how many Senators actually show up. As one Senate staffer told me, “The sleighs are departing hourly.”
GIFT IDEA. Do you need a holiday gift idea which won’t get derailed by late delivery or empty shelves? Give the gift of straight news from Capitol Hill, with a subscription to ‘Regular Order.’
VOTING RIGHTS. This week brought a haphazard effort from Democrats to try to make you think they were about to do something big on voting rights legislation before Christmas. But they weren't. Just like on Build Back Better, Democrats don't have the votes to move forward.
FILIBUSTER. Another Democrat on Thursday endorsed the idea of using the nuclear option to allow voting rights bills to come to the floor without the threat of a Senate filibuster. "We must allow a straight up or down majority vote — it's critical to our democracy," said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
SCHUMER. "The fight to protect voting rights is far from over in the Senate," declared Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer on Thursday. But again - Democrats don’t have the votes - as this issue will go into 2022 as well.
CASUALTY LIST. Another House Democrat has decided not to run for re-election in 2022. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) is the latest to decide against a run in the next midterm election. His district is likely a safe one for Democrats, but it's still going to be another new face.
NUMBERS. Of the 16 lawmakers who are retiring, most of them (12) are Democrats. But of the 15 members who are running for another office in 2022, that's split 8D-7R. Overall, more Democrats are heading for the exits right now.
US-CHINA. It took a few tries, but the Senate on Thursday sent President Biden a bill which could have a big impact on U.S. business relations with China. The measure is known as the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act."
UYGHURS. The Uyghurs are a minority ethnic group in the Chinese territory of Xinjiang. Human rights groups have long accused Beijing of committing genocide against the Uyghurs and other Muslims in the region, and using them as slave labor. This bill bans the import of items produced there into the U.S.
IMPACT. If your company doesn't get supplies from this area of China, there's no problem. But if you source materials or products - there could be major change. "Global corporations need to decide what side of history they want to be on," said Anita Dorett of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights.
NOTABLE. Being tough with China is quickly becoming a top goal of both parties in the Congress. The Uyghurs bill passed without a single ‘No’ vote in either the House or Senate.
STOCK SALES. There was some grumbling Thursday from rank-and-file Democrats in the House, a day after Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly said she would not support a bill to stop members of Congress from trading stocks while in office.
BLIND TRUST. "I disagree with the Speaker," said Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who backs a bill to require lawmakers to put stocks and securities in a blind trust. "I’ve done it" said Phillips, "and believe we all should."
TRADES. "It cannot be a perk of the job for Members to trade on access to information," said Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), the main sponsor of the blind trust bill. While her bill is bipartisan, it’s not going anywhere.
INFRASTRUCTURE. As the FAA began doling out money from the bipartisan infrastructure law approved earlier this year, Republicans are starting to tout billions of dollars in funding for local airports. "Mississippi's airports will soon see $19.8 million in federal investments," said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).
PORTMAN. While Wicker was hailing airport money, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) on Thursday was talking up new federal resources to help finish a highway exchange near Toledo. "The bipartisan infrastructure bill delivers for NW Ohio," Portman said in an op-ed for the Toledo Blade.
SUPPORT. Before you jump to any conclusions - Wicker and Portman were two of the 19 GOP Senators who voted for the infrastructure bill, so they aren't taking credit for something they opposed - like Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who this week hailed $32,000 in money for a local airport which came from a COVID relief bill he opposed.
DETAILS. Next week I’ll show you how GOP-led states are being showered in infrastructure money - even as their lawmakers in Congress overwhelmingly voted against the infrastructure bill.
DEBT LIMIT. President Biden on Thursday signed into law the $2.5 trillion increase in the nation's debt limit. "Members of both parties came together to ensure that the federal government doesn’t default on past debts," the President said.
MOTHER RUSSIA. Twitter not only allows U.S. politicians to fight with each other, but it can happen on a worldwide basis. This week, a Russian legislator threatened to kidnap Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), after Gallego had criticized the Putin regime's military buildup along the border with Ukraine.
GALLEGO. An Iraq War veteran, Gallego has made friends in both parties. Like Rep. Don Young (R-AK), the Dean of the House.
CHENEY. A lot of lawmakers talk about being independent, but few ever put themselves in danger by taking on their own party. That's why you should pay attention to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and the investigation into the Capitol Attack. Cheney is doing something that we rarely see on Capitol Hill. That’s my column this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
MUSE OF HISTORY. December 17, 1943. On this date in World War II, President Roosevelt signed into law a bill which repealed a series of anti-Chinese immigration laws. Why the change? Because China was now an ally in the war against Japan. But the repeal didn't change much. "It merely means that 105 Chinese immigrants, not now entitled to enter the United States, may come here to reside," said Sen. Charles Andrews of Florida. Immigration laws were very strict at this point in 1943 - only whites, African blacks, and Native American Indians were eligible for naturalization in the U.S.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
Votes in the House are not expected until the week of January 10.
The Senate meets at 9:30 am.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
See the full Regular Order archive.
I read somewhere that the parliamentarian's ruling (i.e. opinion) is important but not obligatory for passage of legislation. Is that so?
The Portman and Support points. Got me! I read you too much or you trained me well😁