Democrats pivoted away from spending to focus on voting rights, but the sweeping legislation that the president and Sen. Chuck Schumer promised they would deliver appears as dead as Build Back Better.
A trip to Georgia by the president and his retinue was left wanting as Democratic elections darling Stacey Abrams and a handful of voting rights groups elected not to join. In a speech meant to pull Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin in line, the president may have done more harm than good as Sinema announced in an expressive speech of her own on the Senate floor that she will not support abolishing the filibuster.
As domestic problems rolled on, U.S. diplomats met with Russian officials but failed to make any headway as pressure continues to mount on Ukraine’s border.
Here are the Quotes of the Week:
“The only reason he did this is because he got my endorsement and easily won his state in 2020, so now he thinks he has time, and those are the only ones, the weak, who will break away. … Even though his election will not be coming up for 5 years, I will never endorse this jerk again.”
– Former President Donald Trump after Sen. Mike Rounds called the 2020 election “as fair as we’ve seen.”
“It feels like our country is being torn apart. That’s not how it felt in 2016. Back then, I intended to serve a second term and go home. … But now, with the Democrats in total control, our nation’s on a very dangerous path. If you were in a position to make our country safer and stronger, would you just walk away? I’ve decided I can’t.”
– Sen. Ron Johnson explaining why he is breaking his pledge to only serve two terms.
“We’ll look into every option available and try to get them before the committee.”
– Rep. Bennie Thompson on whether the Jan. 6 committee is planning to subpoena uncooperative members of Congress.
“It’s not even a true mandate, you can mask up to avoid it. But the point is you’ve got to take safety precautions. … You’ve got to be safe in the workplace, and not dying is a key part of being safe.”
– Center for American Progress senior fellow David Madland, referring to challenges facing the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate.
“We have reasonable suspicion based on publicly available evidence and public reports that Cawthorn, who had already urged his supporters to threaten members of Congress, was involved in the planning of events on Jan. 6.”
– Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech for People, on a challenge to Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s eligibility to run for reelection in 2022.
“The January 6 Select Committee and its sham of an investigation has denied members access to depositions, interviews, and transcripts. It is attempting to ruin reputations by leaking, out of context, fragments of testimony.”
– Rep. Andy Biggs on his attempt to access deposition transcripts from the Jan. 6 committee.
“At this rate, more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected with omicron in the next six to eight weeks.”
– WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge on the omicron surging through the continent.
“Dr. Fauci, the idea that a government official like yourself would claim [that you] unilaterally represent science and that any criticism of you is criticism of science itself is quite dangerous.”
– Sen. Rand Paul blasting Dr. Anthony Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At consequential moments in history, they present a choice: Do you want to be the on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?”
– President Joe Biden in a speech in Georgia on Tuesday, urging senators to toss out the filibuster to pass sweeping voting rights legislation.
“We have a great relationship. We got our scheduling mixed up.”
– Biden on why Stacey Abrams didn’t join him on his voting rights tour through Georgia on Tuesday.
“Right now, the real pressure I think being felt is the failure of this — this administration, Speaker Pelosi, to use the House to help working families. … We want to get the majority back for a number of reasons, but the main one is to go and fight for those families that are being left behind.”
– House Minority Whip Steve Scalise responding to whether the GOP will feel pressure to impeach the president if they take back the house.
“We’re prepared to hold out indefinitely now that the holidays are over.”
– Leila Winbury, a junior at Arizona State University, on a group of students going on a hunger strike to convince Congress to pass voting rights legislation.
“It’s far better to impose sanctions before an invasion rather than after an invasion.”
– Sen. Ted Cruz on his efforts to get the Senate to sanction Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
“The Constitution of the United States gives the Congress the power to pass legislation, and nowhere, nowhere does the Constitution give a minority the right to unilaterally block legislation.”
– Vice President Kamala Harris in a speech in Georgia on Tuesday, arguing that the Senate needs to abolish the filibuster to pass a sweeping voting reform bill.
“Political correctness has killed comedy, has killed it. Every joke now, it hurts somebody’s feelings. What people don’t understand about comedians is that a joke has to be about something.”
– Actor and comedian Steve Harvey, lamenting that cancel culture has ruined comedy.
“If Democrats want a fighting chance at winning the presidency in 2024, Mrs. Clinton is likely their best option.”
– Douglas Schoen and Andrew Stein, arguing in the Wall Street Journal that Hillary Clinton should run for president in 2024.
“What a moron. Jesus Christ.”
– Fauci caught on a hot mic during a Senate hearing on COVID-19.
“Many politicians — I watched a couple of politicians be interviewed, and one of the questions was, ‘Did you get the booster?’ because they had the vaccine, and the answer is ‘yes,’ but they’re not answering it. Because they’re gutless. You gotta say it, whether you had it or not.”
– Trump ripping politicians for not saying whether they have received booster vaccines or not.
“When the annual rate of inflation begins with a seven, there is immense pressure on the Federal Reserve to get it under control, supply chain issues notwithstanding,”
– Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst, addressing a 40-year high rate of inflation.
“You’re going to be great as speaker. You becoming speaker is going to be the last gasp or the last step in preventing us from becoming a socialist or communist nation.”
– Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on her podcast with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, talking about his plans should Republicans win back the House later this year.
“I like Mitch McConnell. He’s a friend.”
– Biden to reporters when he stopped by the Senate minority leader’s office during a trip to the Capitol on Wednesday.
“People talk a lot, but no one does anything.”
– Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Republicans and Democrats talking past each other on voting reforms.
“Hillary’s calling tens of millions of Americans deplorables was divisive & disgusting. But Biden has gone further, calling those who disagree with his actions & policies domestic enemies, traitors, and racists. Biden promised to unite us, but he is doing all he can do [to] divide us.”
– Former Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard criticizing the president for his speech in Georgia.
“As a representative and the leader of the minority party, it is with neither regret nor satisfaction that I have concluded to not participate with this select committee’s abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward.”
– McCarthy announcing he will not cooperate with the Jan. 6 select committee.
“Eliminating the 60-vote threshold will simply guarantee that we lose a critical tool that we need to safeguard our democracy from threats in the years to come.”
– Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in a floor speech Thursday, making Democratic plans to kill the filibuster almost impossible.
“Russia is a peace-loving country, but we do not need peace at any cost.”
– Ambassador Alexander Lukashevich said about the Ukraine crisis.
