| The news is not getting any better for President Biden. The Labor Department announced on Wednesday that inflation jumped at its fastest rate in nearly 40 years in December, representing a 7 percent increase from last year (The Associated Press). Hours later, a poll showed Biden’s already plummeting approval rating at a new low of 33 percent (The Hill). Exacerbating those issues is the president’s inability to further an agenda on Capitol Hill. His latest push to reform voting rights appears to have hit a brick wall within his own party, becoming yet another example of frustration at the White House as the year begins. Biden and Democratic leaders are nonetheless attempting to create legislative momentum. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday laid out the party’s roadmap for bringing up election reform and voting rights legislation and, ultimately, to try to scrap the legislative filibuster to do so. As The Hill’s Jordain Carney details, the Democratic leader is planning to use Senate procedure to bypass the 60-vote prerequisite needed to start debate by considering the bill as a “message,” a loophole that lets them bypass how many times they need to break a filibuster. While the GOP can still block it, it gives Democrats a chance to spark debate on the voting rights proposals. “With this procedure, we will finally have an opportunity to debate voting rights legislation — something that Republicans have thus far denied,” Schumer wrote. “Of course, to ultimately end debate and pass the voting rights legislation, we will need 10 Republicans to join us — which we know from past experience will not happen — or we will need to change the Senate rules as has been done many times before.” The move will take place after the House passes a consolidated package on Thursday in order to allow the upper chamber to give it “urgent consideration,” according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) (The Hill). Schumer has promised a vote on the bills by Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Ultimately, the process is expected to be fruitless legislatively for the majority party, which has been unable to win the support of at least two Democrats — Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) — to create a filibuster “carveout” to deal with the issue. Politico: Old-school senator no more: Biden goes all-in against the filibuster. Carl Hulse, The New York Times explainer: Here are some of Democrats’ proposals to curb the Senate filibuster. The Hill: Biden to huddle with Senate Dems as voting bill on brink of defeat. 
© Associated Press/Patrick Semansky Perhaps a bigger issue for Biden is what this expectedly futile process will mean for him and Democrats moving forward. As The Hill’s Niall Stanage argues in his latest Memo, the president and his team have an overpromising problem that is plaguing the administration. While progressives were over the moon early last year about Biden’s domestic agenda, a problem has set in: He is falling short on every front. The omicron and delta variants have compounded problems, the Build Back Better agenda is in a coma, and the voting rights push is destined to fail legislatively, just to mention the big-ticket items — and voters are taking notice. In addition to the 33 percent approval rating, a University of Massachusetts Amherst-YouGov poll released Tuesday showed that 55 percent of adults believe Biden has “fallen short of expectations” — representing a nearly 20-point jump from their previous survey released in April. It also has ratcheted up the attacks from Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gave his most blistering remarks about Biden since he took office on Wednesday, labeling his voting rights address in Atlanta one day earlier “incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office.” “Look, I've known, liked and personally respected Joe Biden for many years. I did not recognize the man at the podium yesterday. … Yesterday, with the world's largest megaphone, he invoked the literal Civil War and said we are on the doorstep of autocracy. Talked about domestic enemies. Rhetoric unbecoming of a president of the United States," McConnell said from the Senate floor. “Take a step back for one minute. President Biden’s story is that democracy is on death’s door … but he spent nine months chasing a reckless taxing and spending spree before addressing it?” McConnell asked, referring to the Build Back Better package (The Hill). The Hill: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says Biden may have gone “a little too far” in Georgia speech. Brett Samuels, The Hill: Voting advocates focus on next steps after Biden speech. CNN: As candidates refuse to disavow McConnell, former President Trump comes to terms with his grip on the GOP. Greg Ip, The Wall Street Journal: Is inflation a microeconomic problem? That’s what Biden’s competition push is betting. The Washington Post: Democrats worry Biden could pay the political price for rising inflation. 
© Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite > Jan. 6: The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol asked House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) for his voluntary cooperation on Wednesday, making him the highest-ranking Republican to receive such a request in the probe. The committee laid out a host of questions for the GOP leader, including about his communications with Trump “before, during and after” the deadly riot. McCarthy fired back hours later, saying that he will not cooperate and maintained that the "illegitimate" panel was seeking to interview him about “private conversations not remotely related to the violence that unfolded at the Capitol” (The Hill). Alexander Bolton, The Hill: How Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a nice-guy South Dakota senator, fell into a Trump storm. The Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.): Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-Ind.) won't run for reelection. Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg Opinion: Why House Democrats are retiring, and what it means. | 
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