The Secret Deal in Congress to Keep Americans in the Dark

Senator Joe Manchin and Senator Chuck Schumer entered into a formal agreement over the summer while the rest of their party was left in the dark trying to figure out where Sen. Manchin stands on the proposed infrastructure bill. These two Senators entered into a deal in July where they laid out the conditions of what they called the “Agreement to Start Budget Resolution.”

Some of the main points in this written agreement were putting the cap of $1.5 trillion topline instead of the proposed $3.5 trillion from the progressives in their party. The agreement also included raising the corporate tax rate to 25% and the top rate on ordinary income to 39.6%.

ACLJ Director of Government Affairs Thann Bennett discussed the political nature of this agreement:

"Why did they have to sign this memo? Because none of them trust each other. Nobody inside that caucus trusts each other right now to get this over the line. . . . It was right about this time just a little bit after July 28th early August where we said on this program to look for a distraction, look for them to change the topic from Afghanistan. . . . They had a deal in their hands and yet in the meantime they let their party fight over the details. Why? In my view they let them fight because it was a change of topic and they would take any change of topic possible."

In addition to the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, there are other national security crises going on that should be all over the news. Instead, they are using this infrastructure bill as a political distraction from the major events. For example, North Korea just launched anti-aircraft missiles for the second time this week. ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell explained why North Korea would be testing the Biden Administration right now:

"They are testing the Biden Administration. Let’s be very clear, there is a difference between a threat of military action and a credible threat of military action. That’s what we are seeing now not only with North Korea, but Iran. And I would also put Venezuela into that category. There are a whole bunch of bad actors who are looking at what happened in Afghanistan and the fact that the Biden Administration is proud that they got only 90% of Americans out and there was not a good response as the Taliban recalibrated. And they are seeing . . . this is an Administration that gave the Russians a pipeline and that is doing nothing about the buildup of 100,000 troops on the border of Ukraine. So, Kim Jong-un looked at the messaging here and said I should start testing. This is very dangerous for Americans."

Yet, this missile testing has hardly been covered in the news. Ric Grenell explained what the Biden Administration is doing by shifting our focus:

"They are using distraction politics right now to create some space. . . . They are feeling the heat and panicking. But they don’t even have the mainstream media breathing down their neck. They just know the world is in crisis and things are not going well. And they’re not getting the positive press from the places they used to. The Democrat party and Progressives aren’t used to having scrutiny from the media. Us conservatives are. We can go and take the hits and keep moving forward when we know the policy is right."

Even with a Democrat controlled Congress and White House, they are more divided than ever. The recent example of funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system caused major division within the party. Congress actually had to pass a standalone funding bill to replenish this system. ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has a new article discussing why this funding is so important. He further explained:

"The Iron dome was a project that the U.S. and Israel worked on together for a long time. It was a joint effort. . . . Last week when we were watching the progressive element in the Democrat party take control of the party and strip out funding for this important project – a project that was about peace and stability. When you have deterrence in that way, there is less likely to be an offensive action. . . . The problem of the Democrat party, inside of their own organization, with their continuing efforts to defend and protect the alliance between the U.S. and Israel is weak and getting weaker. And the Democrat leadership needs to take control of this. This is something that has been bipartisan for decades and must remain so."

Even while the infrastructure debate is going on in Washington, D.C. we must stay focused on the big issues. There is likely not going to be a vote on this over the weekend, so we need to hold the Biden Administration accountable for what is going on right now in our country.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of the updates on the infrastructure bill, the North Korea anti-aircraft missile testing, and Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system funding.