In case you were wondering why Mitch McConnell and the 18 other Republicans voted for the infrastructure bill yesterday, it’s really very simple. They believe it will preserve the filibuster. And it’s because they believe Kyrsten Sinema is subject to their flattery:
“I believe this very exercise demonstrates why it’s so important to maintain the 60-vote threshold in the United States Senate,” Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), a leader of the bipartisan group that negotiated the bill, said in an interview on ABC’s “The View” last week.
To fuel that skepticism, McConnell on Tuesday praised Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), another prominent Democratic defender of the filibuster — echoing comments he has made privately to fellow Republican senators, encouraging support for the two Democrats who have publicly resisted the calls for rules changes.
“I never made that argument when we couldn’t get what we want because of the filibuster, because I believe in the institution, and I admire Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema for doing that, as well,” he said…
It’s true that he always mentions Manchin, but it’s Sinema who is bathing in attention for being the architect of this bipartisan bill. McConnell has her number. And he saw the bigger picture.
McConnell believed that by making Sinema a maverick star he could preserve the filibuster at least through 2022 so the Republicans in the states, including hers, can get all those voting restrictions in place. Preventing the Democrats from enacting the rest of Biden’s agenda is a bonus. If they can get Sinema and Manchin to sabotage the budget resolution, it’s just icing on the cake.
The big question is whether or not Schumer and the White House have anticipated all this and have a plan to counter it. Climate change, voting rights and immigration hang in the balance and they are arguably even more important than bridges and broadband.
It’s not as if the Republicans aren’t publicly counting on their new best friends:
After 19 GOP senators boosted a bipartisan infrastructure plan past a filibuster and onto the House, Republicans are yearning for results from their cooperation with Manchin and Sinema’s effort. Namely, they’re hoping to persuade the senior Democratic senators from West Virginia and Arizona to buck their party and shave down the social spending bill by holding out their votes.
Republicans who speak frequently to the duo are realistic about their chances, acknowledging it’s highly unlikely Sinema and Manchin would end up blocking their party’s biggest priorities altogether. But Sinema is publicly uncomfortable with spending $3.5 trillion and Manchin followed Wednesday morning by airing “serious concerns” with the price tag — so the GOP senses an opportunity.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is close to both senators and is trying not to overtly pressure them, said “each of them is fiscally responsible and are people of courage. And so I hope they will break on this enormous expansion of government.”
“I know, from talking to both of them, there are concerns about the size and about the various tax increases,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). “Their vote is the whole enchilada. If they want to stop this thing, they can. And I hope they will use that power.”
Keep in mind that if either one of them decide to change parties, the whole game is changed. I suspect McConnell sees that as a real possibility if the rest of the party puts too much pressure on either one of them. And Sinema is the weak link. I think she may believe that Arizona Republicans will reward her if she does it. After all, she moved from being a Green to being a right wing Democrat in the space of just a couple of years. She’s a practiced shape-shifter.