May 12, 2022: Why Democrats don't actually ‘control’ the Senate

This week was another reminder that while Democrats “control” the Senate, they don’t actually control the Senate. Covid relief was cut from the Ukraine aid bill. A national law to codify abortion protections — should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade — came nowhere close to the 60 votes needed to advance it. And the 50 votes it would take to nuke the filibuster and pass the abortion rights law are also unavailable to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. More from Alice Miranda Ollstein and Marianne LeVine If there are serious negotiations underway to pass a Build Back Better 2.0 in advance of the midterms, they are a well-kept secret. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio