Russian forces fired intensively on Ukrainian positions in northern Kharkiv to stop the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive around Kharkiv City. First, the things McConnell most wants to pass can pass with 50 votes: tax cuts and spending cuts, both of which can pass through budget reconciliation rules, and confirming judges. Obamacare took 60 votes to pass and would have been destroyed with 50 (though Republicans only mustered 49). Third, the remaining filibuster also prevents Republicans from passing radical measures McConnell would, for the most part, prefer not to pass. But there’s something more nefarious about Mastriano than those basic facts convey when it comes to the true threat to democracy he poses.

Source: New York Times May 13, 2022 11:40 UTC