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Biden makes an extreme abortion demand, but there are two problems

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The answer is still no, Joe.

Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona remain opposed to nuking the Senate filibuster, even as President Joe Biden is demanding that Democrats pass a law making abortions legal nationwide.

Following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — which overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked the constitutional right to abortion — Biden on Thursday demanded that the Senate create an exception to its 60-vote filibuster threshold to pass abortion legislation.

“We have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,” Biden said during a news conference in Spain. “And if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights, it should be we provide an exception for this, we require an exception to the filibuster for this action.”


“It is a mistake, in my view, for the Supreme Court to do what it did,” the president said. “I feel extremely strongly that I’m going to do everything in my power, which I legally can do in terms of executive orders, as well as push the Congress and the public.”

The end of Roe was a significant victory for the pro-life movement in America. Republican-led states with abortion restrictions on the books acted swiftly to put those laws into effect, while other states with Democratic majorities announced new proposals to create “safe havens” for abortions.

The White House announced several executive actions on abortion last week that aim to protect the right of women to travel to another state for the procedure, as well as guarantee access to abortion-inducing drugs. Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress have also renewed calls to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act — extreme legislation that would not just codify abortion rights but would invalidate hundreds of health and safety regulations on abortion clinics, as well as unconstitutionally micromanage state policy from the federal level.

Previous attempts to pass the WHPA have not earned enough support in the Senate to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold — hence Biden’s demand that the Senate create an exception for it this time.

But Manchin and Sinema remain opposed to any attempt to change or circumvent the filibuster, according to the Daily Mail.

“Manchin’s office told DailyMail.com that the West Virginia Democrat’s position had not changed in light of the president’s new comments, and Sinema’s office referred DailyMail.com to a statement the Arizona Democrat made after the leaked Supreme Court decision,” the outlet reported.

Sinema’s statement said: “Protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women’s access to health care have been used half-a-dozen times in the past ten years, and are more important now than ever.”

Their joint opposition to nuking the filibuster leaves Democrats with just one option: Win more Senate races in the midterm elections this November.

With the pro-life movement's phase one complete, Marco Rubio outlines his vision for a 'post-Roe America'

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Pro-life Republicans have for years faced accusations from Democrats that they do not care what happens to families once children are born, that they have no plan to help expecting mothers with unplanned pregnancies. In answer to this accusation, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has put forward “a pro-life plan for post-Roe America.”

In a framework released Friday, Rubio outlined his vision for what Congress should do to support pregnant women and new moms, as well as those with young children, now that states are permitted to regulate or outlaw abortion. His proposals, collectively called the “Providing for Life Act,” would create a federal paid leave program, expand child tax credits, and make several reforms to child support and welfare programs.

“For years, I have emphasized that Congress can and must do more for unborn children and their mothers,” Rubio said in a statement. “We need to adopt pro-life policies that support families, rather than destroy them. This comprehensive legislation would make a real difference to American parents and children in need.”

Rubio’s plan includes legislation he’s previously introduced that would allow parents, including parents of adopted children, to use up to three months of their Social Security benefits to finance paid paternal leave.

The plan also calls for another expansion of the Child Tax Credit, building on 2017 legislation he sponsored with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Rubio suggests a credit of up to $3,500 per child, and $4,500 per child for children under the age of 6, including unborn children.

Additionally, the Florida Republican wants to strengthen enforcement of child support laws; increase funding and expand access to the federal Women, Infants, and Children program; make the adoption tax credit fully refundable; remove barriers to faith-based organizations partnering with federal social services; create a federal clearinghouse for pregnant women to have easy access to support and resources; provide federal funding for crisis pregnancy centers; and protect the rights of pregnant students and their babies.

“All these steps and more would provide real, meaningful aid to mothers and their babies,” Rubio wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner.

“Now that Roe has been overturned, I hope my colleagues in Congress realize the importance of this moment and support my bill accordingly.”

Rubio announced his plan after the Supreme Court on Friday followed through with its leaked decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning court landmark precedents that had established a constitutional right to abortion.

The court’s ruling means that abortion is no longer federally protected, and states may regulate or ban abortion as they see fit according to the will of voters. Virtually every pro-life Republican in states that have enacted bans on abortion has acknowledged that further action is needed to protect and support expecting mothers, especially those with unwanted pregnancies.

Some states have already begun to take action. South Dakota on Friday launched a new website that directs pregnant women and mothers of new children to resources offering prenatal care, financial assistance, or even adoptive services if needed.

Republican Gov. Kristi Noem also called for a special session of the South Dakota legislature Friday to take up bills to support women and families.

“Every abortion always had two victims: the unborn child and the mother. Today’s decision will save unborn lives in South Dakota, but there is more work to do,” Noem said. “We must do what we can to help mothers in crisis know that there are options and resources available for them. Together, we will ensure that abortion is not only illegal in South Dakota – it is unthinkable.”

In Mississippi, where a 15-week abortion ban was at the center of the Supreme Court’s decision, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has previously said that overturning Roe “is just the beginning” for the pro-life movement.

“The next phase of the pro-life movement is about, what are we doing to help those babies that maybe are — they do go to full term that the moms do have? And what we’re trying to do is focus on making adoption easier in Mississippi. We’re focusing on improving our foster care system,” Reeves said.

Mike Lee says media was provided with text of gun control bill before senators: 'This is the Senate operating at its worst'

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U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) slammed the process after the Senate held a vote Tuesday to advance a bipartisan gun control bill, giving lawmakers less than an hour to read the bill before the vote, but not before it was leaked to the media.

“This is the Senate operating at its worst,” Lee told BlazeTV host Glenn Beck on the radio Wednesday morning, griping that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has also prevented lawmakers from offering amendments to improve the bill.

Senators voted 64 to 34 Tuesday in favor of a motion to proceed for an 80-page bill called the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The bill is the result of weeks-long negotiations between Republicans and Democrats on gun control measures deemed a priority after the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

The bill would expand background checks for gun purchasers under 21 to include juvenile records and mental health records; create financial incentives for states to adopt so-called red-flag laws to confiscate firearms from people believed to be a danger to themselves or others; and fund mental health programs.

Fourteen Republican senators voted with every Democrat to proceed with the bill, which could now pass as early as next week. They were Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

“I want to make sure we actually do something useful, something that is capable of becoming a law, something that will have the potential to save lives,” John Cornyn, the lead Republican negotiator, said on the Senate floor Tuesday, according to The Hill.

“I’m happy to report as a result of the hard work of a number of senators in this chamber that we’ve made some serious progress,” he said.

But Lee, who did not vote for the motion to proceed, criticized the fact that Republicans who did not take part in the negotiations were asked to take a blind vote without reading the bill.


“There were a group of senators, ten Republicans and ten Democrats, who got together and wrote this behind closed doors. I hope they read it. But I don’t think anyone else had the chance to. In fact, by yesterday afternoon, mid-afternoon, a number of news media outlets were reporting that they had the bill text. Senators still didn’t,” Lee said.

“We received the bill text, just moments before we were expected to vote on it. It ended up getting an overwhelming vote, because basically all of Democrats and ten or 15 Republicans voted for it. This is stunning to me. This is not how the Senate is supposed to operate,” he added.

The Utah Republican went on to chide Senate Democrats for blocking senators from offering amendments to the bill.

“This bill text is now sacred. It’s now protected. It’s like it’s on — on stone tablets. And you can’t change it from here on out. And this is how they set it up, so that they can pass it, as is, without any amendment. This is the Senate operating at its worst,” Lee complained.

“It operates at its best when people bring forward legislation. They propose something, and the senators hold hearings on it. They discuss the language. They debate. Then they also debate amendments. They say, ‘okay.’ This one over here might be okay if you made those changes. That’s what the American people deserve. They deserve better from the world’s better deliberative body. They didn’t have that here.”

The next steps for the gun control package will be a vote to end debate and move toward a final up-or-down vote on the bill, Lee said. If any lawmaker attempts to filibuster, which is all but certain, the bill will need 60 votes to advance.

“If you can’t get to 60 votes, voting to bring debate to a close — cloture tomorrow, then this thing can’t pass,” Lee said. “So it’s not entirely baked yet. It’s just mostly baked. If we can convince enough senators to say, ‘Hey, this needs more time. This needs more deliberation. This needs more debate.’ Then perhaps we can have a real process here. Which is what we really want.”

Manchin asserts gun control deal won't threaten 2nd Amendment, but gun owners push back

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West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin on Monday asserted that the newly reached bipartisan gun deal will not pose a threat to Second Amendment rights.

The moderate Democrat, who has in the past resisted his party’s demands for more expansive gun control laws, was being interviewed on “The Lead” with CNN’s Jake Tapper when he assured gun owners the agreement is intended to prevent gun violence, not take away gun rights.

“It’s based around children. It’s based around prevention and intervention. That’s what it’s based about. So we have to take what we have as a positive, and work off of this. This piece of legislation as drafted should not be threatening to any law-abiding citizen in the United States of America. Not one,” Manchin said.

“And no law-abiding gun owner should be offended by this. We take no rights away, no privileges away. We don’t basically threaten you’re going to lose anything at all, except maybe if we don’t do this, you might lose a child or a grandchild,” he added.

A bipartisan group of 20 U.S. senators, including 10 Republicans, announced a framework for a deal on gun control Sunday meant to address public concerns over mass shootings. The senators said the deal “increases needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can’t purchase weapons,” according to a joint statement.

President Joe Biden has pushed Congress to enact tougher new gun laws following several high-profile mass shootings in May. After 19 children and two teachers were massacred at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the president gave a prime-time address renewing his calls for an “assault weapons” ban, a ban on large-capacity magazines, and other measures. But reality on Capitol Hill is the Democratic Senate majority is not large enough to overcome a filibuster from the Republican minority, which means most of Biden’s gun control wish list is dead on arrival.

However, widespread public horror at the shooting in Uvalde and the killing of 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, just days before has convinced at least some Senate Republicans to make concessions to the Democrats.

The deal announced Sunday would incentivize states to adopt so-called “red flag” laws that would permit authorities to take guns away from individuals believed to be a threat to themselves or others; expand background checks for firearm purchasers to include their juvenile and mental health records; limit the ability of convicted domestic abusers to obtain weapons legally; and increase funding for mental health services, school safety, and other health resources.

While Manchin and other senators who took part in the negotiations deny that any of these proposals would threaten Second Amendment rights, some gun activists are calling for Republicans to reject the agreement.

Gun Owners of America, which bills itself as the only “no compromise” gun lobby in Washington, D.C., issued a call to action Monday urging the bill to be “filibustered and ripped to pieces.” The group opposes red-flag laws, which it calls “Confiscation Laws,” and expressed concerns that proposed changes to the definition of Federal Firearms Licenses “could require that anyone who sells more than one gun now has to sell any additional guns as, or through, an FFL, resulting in a backdoor mechanism for universal background registration checks.”

“Senators need to know that gun owners will not let them get away with calling this a ‘compromise.’ This is gun control, plain and simple,” said GOA senior vice president Erich Pratt.

The National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest gun rights organization and boogeyman of anti-gun activists, has not taken a position on the Senate framework.

“We will make our position known when the full text of the bill is available for review,” the NRA said in a statement after the bipartisan deal was announced.


Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the leading Republican negotiator, has strongly defended the deal from detractors on social media. In a tweet Sunday he suggested that including juvenile court and mental health records “likely” would have prevented the shooter in Uvalde from obtaining firearms legally.


He has also argued that many of the extreme gun control measures favored by Democrats, including an “assault weapons” ban for 18- to 21-year-olds, were cut out of negotiations.


Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the lead Democrat in the bipartisan negotiations, told CNN he believes its possible more Republicans will support the legislation once a bill is drafted.

“My belief is that we’re just going to add Republicans from here on out. We’ve got to get this into legislative text, but we’re done with the negotiating, and my belief is that by next week, we can have something on the floor that can get more than 60 votes,” Murphy said.

Senate Democrats are no longer pushing to raise the age requirement to buy an AR-15 to 21

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A top Democrat negotiator in the U.S. Senate says that raising the federal age to buy an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle to 21 is now off the table.

In the wake of multiple recent mass shootings, the junior Democratic senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy, said that the proposed change to increase the age requirement to buy semi-automatic rifles was dropped in an attempt to solidify support from Republicans in the Senate, Just the News reported.

Any legislative change will require support from at least ten Senate Republicans to overcome a 60-vote procedural hurdle in the 100-member chamber.

Murphy said that the compromise would require adding “additional scrutiny” to 18- to 21-year-olds who try to buy semi-automatic rifles like an AR-15. Murphy didn’t, however, say whether a waiting period would be introduced in lieu of raising the minimum age requirement.

Murphy said, “I think we continue to try to find a path to 60 votes that includes some provision that recognizes these 18- to 21-year-olds tend to be the mass shooters, and that many times, they have juvenile criminal records or past histories of mental health that should prohibit them from buying a weapon.”

The Democratic senator also reportedly thinks there would be some Republican support for raising the age but that there simply will not be enough to meet the 60-vote threshold to circumvent a legislative filibuster.

Murphy also expressed optimism and stated that negotiations have advanced beyond expectations despite Congress being unable to implement further restrictions on the ownership or purchase of private firearms for the past 30 years.

Murphy also said that a federal red-flag law would not be included in a potential legislative proposal. He did, however, insist that that there will be “incentives” for states to pass or strengthen their already existing red-flag flaws. Red-flag laws allow police, teachers, and family members to petition a court to remove weapons belonging to gun owners who are deemed a danger to themselves or others.

The senator suggested that demand for gun control from the constituents of Republican senators will enable the Senate to ultimately pass some form of gun control.

He said, “I think that we can put together a package that will get more than 10 Republican votes, and the reason for that is the demand from their constituents. I’ve never been part of a negotiation that was this serious.”