Liberals were dealt their first major disappointments of President Biden’s young administration as the United States launched airstrikes in Syria and the prospects for a $15 federal minimum wage dimmed.
“We didn’t flip Georgia Blue for Biden to air strike Syria,” left-wing activist Ja’Mal Green tweeted. “We flipped Georgia Blue for our $2,000 Stimulus Checks.”
“And for $15 minimum wage,” he added. “And for $50,000 of student loan debt to be canceled.”
The two Georgia Senate races shifted the Senate to Democratic control after Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president on Jan. 20, giving the party the White House and majorities in both chambers of Congress.
DEMOCRATS PLOT MINIMUM WAGE ‘PLAN B’ AFTER SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SETBACK
But for liberals, it was a sobering reminder that Democrats have only razor-thin margins in each chamber, especially compared to their majorities when former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama took office, and that, on some issues, there are countervailing voices inside the new administration.
“[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer, and Biden need to be perfect,” Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau said of passing legislation through the 50-50 Senate and closely divided House.
The Senate parliamentarian ruled that budget reconciliation could not be used to increase the minimum wage, effectively raising the number of votes required for passage from a simple majority of 51 to the 60 necessary to end a filibuster.
“We will not be deterred by an archaic Senate process that throughout history has been used to delay or deny progress for Black and brown communities while allowing multi-trillion-dollar tax cuts for corporations,” said Maribel Cornejo of the Fight for 15 group in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “Winning elections means talking to voters about the issues that matter to their lives and then delivering on those promises. Voters don’t want to hear excuses about process, procedures or parliamentarians.”
The minimum wage hike was a top priority for liberals, some of whom hold out hope that Harris will overrule the Senate parliamentarian. It is not clear that Democrats have 50 votes to do so, with centrist Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona likely to balk, and the administration does not appear to be actively considering this. But Biden’s Syria strikes also elicited liberal blowback.
“This makes President Biden the seventh consecutive U.S. president to order strikes in the Middle East,” Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said in a statement. “There is absolutely no justification for a president to authorize a military strike that is not in self-defense against an imminent threat without congressional authorization.”
“Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent extraordinary circumstances,” added Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who was also the 2016 Democratic nominee for vice president. Kaine called for hearings.
The Biden administration said the strikes were necessary because Iranian proxies have been firing rockets at forces battling the Islamic State outside Iraq.
“President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
“The president is sending an unambiguous message that he’s going to act to protect Americans, and when threats are posed, he has the right to take an action at the time and in the manner of his choosing,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday. “He also is going to take those actions in a manner that’s deliberative and that has the objective of de-escalating activity in both Syria and Iraq.”
Conservatives engaged in some gloating.
“From a delay in Neera Tanden’s confirmation vote, to the minimum wage shutdown, to Biden’s ‘gold standard’ governor becoming embroiled in scandal, it’s no secret President Biden’s week hasn’t gone as planned,” Whitney Robertson, deputy press secretary for the America Rising PAC, said in a statement.
But for Democrats, it is primarily an internal fight.
“In Washington terms, it’s a bad week,” Mollineau said. “But we’re still on the precipice of passing a $1.9 trillion COVID bill that is going to be a huge win for the Biden administration and for the American people.”
Mollineau argued that the top issues are stemming the pandemic, putting people back to work, and getting children back in school.
“If we as Democrats can show the American people we are doing those things, that will give us credibility and will give us momentum to tackle some of the more progressive pieces of our agenda,” he said.
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This was the White House’s message, especially to Republicans who might seek to capitalize on Democratic disunity.
“The president continues to believe that a package that will bring necessary relief to the American people, that will get shots in the arms of Americans, that will reopen schools, that will get direct checks to people, that is supported by 70% or more of the American public, including the majority of Republicans, should garner Republican support, and we’re still working for them,” Psaki said Friday.
