This is probably true. It would explain a lot as to how the Senate Republicans are able to always vote in one bloc. And while Biden is right to criticize it - well, right to take advantage of the disclosure to embarrass the GOP since the public likely won't like hearing about this - I do wish the Democrats would try something like this, rather than keep trying something like this.
"I know at least 7 [GOP] senators, who I will not name, but were made to make a commitment under threat of losing their chairmanships, if they did not support the leadership on every procedural vote," Biden said at a fundraiser Monday night.And for those who argue that this is "dirty politics," and by not doing it, it shows how much better the Democrats are than Republicans, that will be great consolation to the people of the Maldives as their country sinks into the ocean because we just couldn't muster the votes to do the right thing on climate change.
"Every single thing we did, from the important to the not so important, required for the first time in modern American history, majority votes required 60 votes. All the sudden a majority became 60 instead of 50," the VP added, according to a pool report of the event.
Governing isn't always pretty. And, generally speaking, when someone cares more about "clean government" than "good governance," they're naive and end up a failure.
