Legislature

Over five decades in Washington, Joe Biden knew that the way to influence was to be in the room where it happens. But in the second year of his presidency, some of Biden’s most striking, legacy-defining legislative victories have come about by staying out of it. It's a counterintuitive turn for Biden, who's long promoted his decades of Capitol Hill experience. Biden’s aides chalk up his victories to the fact that he's playing the role of cheerleader rather than legislative quarterback. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana says that in Biden's heart, he's a U.S. senator. And because of that, Tester says Biden "understands allowing this to work is how you get it done.”

Democratic hopefuls in Wisconsin see abortion as the issue that will carry them to election wins in November, but efforts to reach Black voters on the topic are sparse. Several organizing groups said it's a complicated issue in the Black community, with a legacy of views long handed down from the more prominent and conservative denominations in the Black church. Polling data shows that abortion is a slightly more potent issue for white voters in the Democratic coalition than for Black voters. Most of the groups organizing in the Milwaukee area, a critical area for Democrats to win statewide races, are steering away from messaging solely on the issue.

The Senate is working through the night and into the morning as Democrats push their election-year economic package toward passage. The legislation is less ambitious than President Joe Biden’s original domestic goals. But it does embody deep-rooted party dreams of slowing global warming, moderating pharmaceutical costs and taxing big corporations. Debate began Saturday and by sunrise on Sunday, Democrats had swatted down a dozen Republican efforts to torpedo the legislation, with no clear end in sight. Despite unanimous GOP opposition, Democratic unity in the 50-50 chamber, along with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote, suggested the party was on track for a morale-boosting victory three months from elections when congressional control is at stake.

A divided Senate has voted to start debating Democrats’ election-year economic bill. The sprawling measure contains many of President Joe Biden’s climate, energy, health and tax goals. United Democrats pushed the 755-page measure toward Senate approval early Sunday. Before reaching final passage, senators plodded through a nonstop pile of amendments that seemed certain to last hours. The package is a dwindled version of earlier multitrillion-dollar bills from Biden that Democrats failed to advance. The measure has become a partisan battleground over inflation, gasoline prices and other issues that polls show are driving voters. The House, where Democrats have a slender majority, could give the legislation final approval next Friday.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul's wife says her husband wants to subpoena the records of the country’s top infectious disease expert. Paul’s wife, Kelley, made the comments during the political speaking at the Fancy Farm picnic Saturday in western Kentucky. She waded into the dispute between her husband and Dr. Anthony Fauci while promoting her husband's bid for a third term. Sen. Paul is being challenged by Democrat Charles Booker, a former state lawmaker. He told the crowd that Paul votes against the interests of Kentuckians. Booker denounced Paul as a “terrible senator” and an “embarrassment” to the state.

While Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was consoling families displaced by historic flooding in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, Republicans at the state’s premier political event on the other side of the state were campaigning to oust him from office in 2023. They bashed Beshear’s pandemic restrictions but offered support for recovery efforts that the Democratic governor is leading in the wake of historic flooding and tornadoes. While his challengers aimed zingers at him, Beshear spent Saturday consoling families displaced by the flash flooding that swamped the Appalachian region more than a week ago. He visited two state parks where some of the suddenly homeless took refuge.

Some South Carolina lawmakers who oppose abortion are being cautious when it comes to tightening the state's already restrictive laws even further. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, paving the way for states to enact total bans if they choose to do so. South Carolina currently has a law banning abortion after cardiac activity is detected, at about six weeks of pregnancy. Lawmakers called a special session after the high court's decision in June to discuss the issue. But some are hesitating after seeing voters in conservative Kansas overwhelmingly reject a measure that would allow the legislature to tighten restrictions or enact a total ban.

Indiana has become the first state in the nation to pass new legislation restricting access to abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that overturned Roe v. Wade. Indiana lawmakers on Friday approved the near-total abortion ban with some exceptions, including in cases of rape, incest, and to protect the life and physical health of the mother. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb immediately signed the bill. Indiana was among the first Republican-run state legislatures to debate tighter abortion laws after the Supreme Court ruling that removed constitutional protections for the procedure.

The estimated $740 billion economic package from Democrats is nowhere near what President Joe Biden first envisioned with his effort to rebuild America’s public infrastructure and family support systems. It had a price tag of $4 trillion and it stalled in Congress. The slimmer but still substantial compromise package is now on track toward Senate voting this weekend. It's made up of health care, climate change and deficit reduction strategies, in hopes of tackling inflation and bringing down deficits. A major component is capping out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors in the Medicare program at $2,000 a year.