Sarah Burris is a long-time veteran of political campaigns, having worked as a fundraiser and media director across the United States. She transitioned into reporting while working for Rock the Vote, Future Majority and Wiretap Magazine, covering the Millennial Generation's perspective during the presidential elections. As a political writer, Burris has had bylines at CNN, Salon.com, BNR, and AlterNet and serves as a senior digital editor for RawStory.com.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) finally came to an agreement with Democrats over the slate of bills that has been part of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda. Now that the bills are moving forward, however, Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is miffed.
When Build Back Better was being voted on in the House in Nov. 2021, McCarthy stopped the vote with a long and rambling speech that left fellow lawmakers questioning if he was "OK."
"Two parts in history I wish I was part of. I wish I could have been in Tiananmen Square, and I wish I could have been there knocking down the Berlin Wall,” McCarthy said at one point during the pre-Thanksgiving diatribe.
Ultimately, the bill was killed in the Senate as Manchin complained about "the deficit." Manchin now says that it is forever dead. He did take parts of it, however, and put it into a budget reconciliation package. Such bills only require 50 votes and can't be blocked by the filibuster.
McCarthy is now miffed it's moving forward saying that he was told it was going to be a regular bill and now it's a reconciliation package.
"They lied about reconciliation. It's very concerning to me why they would — they said they were going to do something without making sure — reconciliation bill and on the day they voted for it they said they've got a deal on reconciliation?" McCarthy stammered when talking to reporters.
