On Thursday, ten senators from the establishment voted to defeat Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) Title 42 amendment, paving the way for the $1.7 trillion omnibus measure to move forward in the Senate and giving political protection for 2024 vulnerable Democrat senators.
On Thursday morning, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Jon Tester (D-MT) worked together to develop a companion amendment to Lee’s Title 42 amendment, which was preventing the approval of the omnibus package.
Lee’s Title 42 amendment made DHS funding contingent on the Biden administration’s preservation of Title 42. The present administration of Vice President Joe Biden is engaged in a court battle to repeal Title 42, a legislation that facilitates the deportation of illegal aliens. In the beginning, the Trump administration adopted the action because of the epidemic.
Ten senators utilized the amendment proposed by Sinema and Tester as political cover to avoid taking a stand on limiting Title 42. Thus, Lee’s Title 42 amendment was shot down in a vote of 47 to 50. The threshold for approval was a majority of those voting in favor. The Sinema/Tester amendment also failed, but at least Lee’s wasn’t derailed by it.
Senators who voted for political cover by supporting the alternative amendment to Lee’s amendment deserve special mention. Some of these senators are running for reelection in 2024, including Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jon Tester (R-MT), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-NM):