President Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package finally passed the Senate last Friday. The House still needs to approve a few remaining amendments, but it’s official: President Biden’s first piece of tentpole piece of legislation is on its way to become law.

The effort was narrowly approved with only 50 votes after certain benefits were reduced to appease a moderate Democrat with substantial power in the Senate: Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Senator Manchin was on four of the five Sunday shows today defending his actions and his support of the Senate filibuster.

Chapters

• Introduction

• Quality: Who is Worthy to Lead?

• Quality: Returning to the George Floyd Story

• Questionable: Little Substance in Sec Def Interview

• Questionable: Asa Hutchinson’s Public Health Fail

• Politics: DeWine Stays Clear of Texas

• Politics: The Restrictions of Republican Governors

• Journalism: Manchin Mania

• Show Ratings

• Dialogue Challenge

Shows discussed 

• State of the Union on CNN

• Fox News Sunday on FOX

• This Week on ABC

• Meet the Press on NBC

• Face the Nation on CBS

Resources

• Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy by Adam Jentleson

• “Manchin in the Middle” via Politico Magazine

Contact us

Email us at [email protected] or you can send us your feedback @PolilogueCast. You can also follow us at @sotonaomi_ and @bsteidle.

Support the show: We produce Polilogue out of our own pocket. If you’d like to support the show with a one-time or recurring donation, please visit our donate page here. Or leave a review on iTunes, Apple Music, or the Apple Podcast library. Thank you!

Check out some of our other work: 

Brendan’s website: www.armisticedesigns.com  

Naomi's website: www.startwithaquestion.org