As Republicans continue to use the filibuster in the Senate to obstruct critical and popular pieces of legislation that Americans need, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is calling on President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders to start playing hardball.
Republicans already blocked the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection and most recently used the filibuster to block the Paycheck Fairness Act.
The GOP is poised to also block the infrastructure bill, major voting rights legislation, and any other piece of legislation Democrats try to bring up for a vote, making it clear that it’s time for Democrats to kill the filibuster and go it alone.
AOC took to Twitter on Wednesday after the GOP blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act to warn Democrats that continuing to negotiate with Republicans is a lose-lose for Democrats and the American people.
Pres. Biden & Senate Dems should take a step back and ask themselves if playing patty-cake w GOP Senators is really worth the dismantling of people’s voting rights, setting the planet on fire, allowing massive corporations and the wealthy to not pay their fair share of taxes, etc
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 9, 2021
She then pointed out that Democrats are wasting time because their control of the Senate could be brief, which is exactly why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wanted the filibuster to remain intact.
During the Obama admin, folks thought we’d have a 60 Dem majority for a while. It lasted 4 months.
Dems are burning precious time & impact negotiating w/GOP who won’t even vote for a Jan 6 commission. McConnell’s plan is to run out the clock.
It’s a hustle. We need to move now.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 9, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez also urged Biden to act on student loan debt, which he can do without Congress via executive order to uplift millions of Americans financially, a huge boost during a time of economic struggle amid a pandemic.
Additionally, the Senate blockages make Biden’s unwillingness to act on student loan debt- something he can do *without* Congress but hasn’t yet- all the more glaring.#CancelStudentDebt is 1 of the few, rare opportunities Biden has to go big w/o the Senate. He needs to take it.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 9, 2021
Democrats need to start acting like the party in power instead of letting Republicans decide what will pass and what won’t. Because McConnell has already made it clear that Republicans are committed to using the filibuster to obstruct anything and everything Democrats want to do. The time for being bold is now. Perhaps AOC should challenge Schumer for his Senate seat so Democrats can have someone with a spine in that chamber.
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