Republicans are fortifying as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., prepares to ram through his massive $730 billion climate and social spending package this weekend, The Hill reported.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters on Friday that Republicans will ensure a series of procedural votes to be held on the bill, known colloquially as a "vote-a-rama," will "be like hell" for the Democrats.
"They deserve this. As much as I admire [Sen.] Joe Manchin [D-W.Va.] and [Sen. Kyrsten] Sinema [D-Ariz.] for standing up to the radical left at times, they're empowering legislation that will make the average person's life more difficult," Graham said.
His comments came after Schumer announced his intention to push the Inflation Reduction Act forward after coming to separate agreements with moderate colleagues Manchin and Sinema over the past two weeks.
The vote-a-rama method Schumer is using, which is permitted only for appropriations bills, lets Democrats pass their package with a mere majority rather than the normally required 60 votes, while simultaneously bypassing the need to eliminate the filibuster.
In response, Republicans are preparing to line up a series of votes to pressure Democrats on critical issues as the November election lingers. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said during a recent press conference that the party will focus primarily on "energy, inflation, [the] border and crime."
Some Republicans are hopeful that they can add amendments and tank the entire bill, although they worry that Democrats might introduce a "wraparound" amendment, which could wipe out any amendments adopted during the vote-a-rama.
In a Friday press conference, Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., questioned whether Manchin and Sinema would vote for such an amendment.
"In the American Rescue Plan, they voted for a wraparound amendment and so felt like they were misled by their leadership at the time that they would never vote for one of those again," Thune pointed out.
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