WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

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1/ Senate Democrats are pressing ahead on voting rights despite unified opposition from Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, and Senate Republicans. A vote on voting rights legislation is expected to happen tonight. Republicans are expected to block the bill, which will prompt Chuck Schumer to then hold a vote to change Senate rules to allow for a “talking filibuster” that only covers the voting package, allowing it to pass by a simple majority in the evenly divided Senate. Manchin and Sinema, however, are expected to oppose the proposed changes. Manchin, meanwhile, admonished Democrats’ effort to change the filibuster rules in order to pass voting rights legislation, calling it “a great misleading of the American people” and a “perilous course” for the nation, while accusing his Democratic colleagues of trying to take the “easy way out” by “break[ing] the rules to change the rules.” (Politico / CNN / CNBC / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / CNN)

2/ Biden conceded that in order to get his Build Back Better agenda passed, Congress will have to “break it up” to get as much of it through as possible. “I’m confident we can get pieces, big chunks of the Build Back Better law signed into law,” Biden said, adding “and come back and fight for the rest later.” Biden pointed to roughly $500 billion in climate change provisions, funding for universal pre-kindergarten, and some financing provisions that he said had “clear” support. “I know that the two people who have opposed on the Democratic side at least, support a number of things that are in there,” Biden said, referring to Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. (CNBC / CNN / The Hill / NPR)

3/ The U.S. will make 400 million N95 masks available for free at pharmacies and community health centers starting next week. The move, which officials called the “largest deployment of personal protective equipment in U.S. history,” comes days after the CDC updated its mask guidance to recommend that people wear “the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently.” The masks will be sourced from the Strategic National Stockpile, which has more than 750 million masks on hand. (Bloomberg / Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times / Wall Street Journal /