The Dems technically have a majority in the Senate since Vice President Harris can act as the 51st vote for Dems. So the only thing that the minority party can really do is filibuster until they are heard. But Dems want to remove the GOP’s and any future minority party’s ability to filibuster so that they can streamline any policy they want while Biden is in office. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been filibustering to get Dems to guarantee that they will not get rid of the minority party’s ability to filibuster. Sen. Schumer has been refusing to budge, but McConnell eventually won out and gained the word of a few other Dems ending the need to worry. But if you listened to some networks Schumer was somehow triumphant in this argument.
“NBC reporter Kristen Welker spun the news as McConnell caving: “The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, was fighting to keep the maneuver, known as the filibuster, that basically requires 60 senators to act for most bills to be passed. But Democrats, who hold a one-vote majority, with 51, refused.” She added, “So McConnell ultimately agreed to drop his filibuster fight overnight, paving the way for a power-sharing system.”
But the truth is:
“There are now 50 Republicans, plus Democrats Sinema and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who have vowed not to eliminate the filibuster. A third Democrat, Jon Tester of Montana, is what could be called a soft no. But a Sinema spokesperson flatly stated, “Kyrsten is against eliminating the filibuster, and she is not open to changing her mind about eliminating the filibuster.”
It’s reporting like NBC’s here that just further to prove how right Trump was when he called the MSM fake news. This is definitely a win for the GOP and the Senate in general. It looks like Biden/Dems will at least face some resistance in the Senate for all of the policies they are planning to push through.