The Washington Examiner’s Sarah Westwood explained that the rail strike threat has led senators on both sides of the aisle to the same conclusion: Congress should stay out of it.
“I think you’re seeing a really interesting alignment of people on the Left and on the Right who are speaking out against the idea of Congress intervening in this rail strike deal,” Westwood said Wednesday on Fox Business.
Referencing comments made this week by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), she told host Cheryl Casone that this demonstrates that populism has created “interesting, ideological alignments.”
BIDEN TOUTS ‘FIRST CLASS’ LABOR AFTER CALLING ON CONGRESS TO INTERVENE IN RAIL STRIKE
“The mainstreams of both parties are interested in averting the economic disaster that would come with a strike,” Westwood said.
The House voted on Wednesday to codify the deal that the Biden administration struck between labor unions and railroad companies and passed an additional provision of seven paid sick days.
The move puts the country one step closer to avoiding a rail strike on Dec. 9.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where it will likely receive a vote before the weekend.
When asked about the likely result, Westwood said the 50-50 split could make passage more difficult.
That same split could continue into 2023, depending on the results of the Georgia Senate runoff next month between Trump-backed Herschel Walker and incumbent Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
If Warnock is able to keep his seat, Democrats would return to the Senate with a 51-seat majority.
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Westwood explained that under the current split, even with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote, centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has been able to dictate what Democrats could or could not pass.
For example, she said, “he single-handedly watered down the Build Back Better act.”
With a real majority, Manchin’s power “diminishes quite a bit,” she added, and opens the floor for more legislation.
“[But] that’s less of a serious threat to Republicans now that they control the House. But again, that majority is pretty slim,” she said.
