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The shaky grounds for bipartisanship come as Democrats are facing problems in their own caucus. A growing number of Democratic lawmakers are skeptical that Republicans even want to cut big bipartisan deals, and view negotiations as a waste of time.
“Dems are burning precious time & impact negotiating w/GOP who won’t even vote for a Jan 6 commission. McConnell’s plan is to run out the clock. It’s a hustle. We need to move now,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
But Democrats don’t have the votes to nix the filibuster, which would require total unity from their 50-member Senate caucus. That’s forcing them to lean on their negotiations with Republicans to try to figure out if there’s a path to the 60 votes needed to advance most legislation.
Democratic lawmakers are splitting apart over whether it makes sense to continue negotiating with Republicans on a scaled-down infrastructure package after President Biden ended talks with Sen.