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BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN

THE TOP

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Sometimes in Washington, the fight is about the fight. And, in the end, that’s what the standoff over the filibuster was largely about: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer standing his ground against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the early days of this new Democratic majority.

Because in the end, they both declared victory, and they both got nothing but the status quo.

The filibuster isn’t going anywhere for now, which is what McConnell wanted — and it is a reflection of the reality that Schumer doesn’t have the votes to kill it. And Schumer didn’t guarantee that he won’t end the filibuster at some point this Congress if he does get the votes. 

Cool, glad we went through that mess for a bunch of days.

Now the Senate can begin organizing its committees, and responding to President Joe Biden’s calls for dramatic action on Covid relief and rebuilding the battered U.S. economy. 

Here’s what happened.

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) reiterated their long-standing commitment to keeping the filibuster. McConnell said that was enough for him to give up the fight. 

Of course, Manchin and Sinema had already publicly said they wanted to keep the filibuster, so there was nothing new here. But McConnell had been demanding Schumer put in writing that the filibuster would stay in place. So McConnell took what he could get. Timing is everything in negotiations, and McConnell had signaled by Monday afternoon that he was ready to move on.

“Today two Democratic Senators publicly confirmed they will not vote to end the legislative filibuster,” McConnell said in a statement released just as a Schumer interview was airing on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.” “They agree with President Biden’s and my view that no Senate majority should destroy the right of future minorities of both parties to help shape legislation.”

McConnell added: “The legislative filibuster was a key part of the foundation beneath the Senate’s last 50-50 power-sharing agreement in 2001. With these assurances, I look forward to moving ahead with a power-sharing agreement modeled on that precedent.”

Schumer also declared victory. He hadn’t caved to McConnell in their first head-to-head showdown since Democrats won the majority on Jan. 5. That was very important for Schumer.

Schumer didn’t have the votes needed to get rid of the filibuster, and everyone knew it, including him, so his hand wasn’t particularly strong. But Schumer didn’t commit to any restrictions on Democrats’ future options, which is the key. He showed his colleagues toughness against McConnell. And if McConnell overplays his hand by abusing the filibuster to try to derail Biden’s agenda, Schumer may actually get the needed 50 votes required for a rule change sometime down the road.

“We’re glad Senator McConnell threw in the towel and gave up on his ridiculous demand,” said Justin Goodman, a Schumer spokesman. “We look forward to organizing the Senate under Democratic control and start getting big, bold things done for the American people.”

SCHUMER AND PELOSI’S PUNCH CARD

Can the leadership tame the left?

With the fight over the filibuster likely done for now, it’s worth going over what the first few months of this year are going to look like in the upcoming battles between the Democratic leadership and the left. It ain’t pretty.

→ The filibuster is intact, and that means President Joe Biden’s agenda is going to face serious challenges. But guess what: It’s not just Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema who are against blowing it up. There were probably between four and five Senate Democrats who would’ve opposed the effort. The left has a long way to go to eliminate the filibuster. 

→ Impeachment will likely result in Donald Trump being acquitted. Will they censure him to ensure some punishment?

→ The $1.9 trillion Covid relief package Biden wants faces a massively difficult slog to the finish line. 

→ Covid relief will take until March — at best. It could even drag into April.

→ A quicker Covid relief package would need to be pared down to vaccine money and a few other items, leaving the big stuff behind.

→ $15 minimum wage has big problems — and there may be no way to pass it.

So far, the left’s biggest wins have come by Biden taking executive actions. That’s going to be a recurring theme this year. 

But Schumer definitely knows who his audience is and where the money and energy are in his party. His first national TV interview since becoming majority leader was a long sit down with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. That’s a message to progressives that Schumer knows he needs to keep them happy.

There’s also nominations and judges, which Trump and Mitch McConnell focused on during the last two years. It’s not what the left wants, but people are policy. Getting Democratic nominees in place will reshape the government, and eventually, the judiciary.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE … 

Bernie on Neera

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Sen. Bernie Sanders doesn’t really seem to like questions about when he will confirm Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s pick to run the Office of Management and Budget.

Tanden, a longtime friend and aide to Bill and Hillary Clinton who ran the progressive Center for American Progress, has a long history of clashes with Sanders and people in his orbit. For instance, in April 2019, the Vermont senator released a public letter to CAP and CAP Action Fund, stating that “Neera Tanden repeatedly calls for unity while simultaneously maligning my staff and supporters and belittling progressive ideas.”

So now that he’s the incoming chair of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders will oversee Tanden’s nomination for the OMB. And he’s not giving out a lot of info on when he may get to her. There’s no sign he’s trying to kill the nomination, but he’s also not super eager about Tanden either.

Speaking to reporters last week, Sanders didn’t commit to moving Tanden’s nomination before the Budget Committee finishes putting together a resolution that can be used for Biden’s “American Rescue Plan.”

“I don’t know honestly, we’re working on it,” Sanders said when asked whether Tanden’s nomination may be approved before work on the Covid package is complete.

So we asked again Monday. The first time we asked, Sanders said cryptically, “It’s going on.” Asked a second time, Sanders said “Obviously, there’s a process we’re going to go through.” 

And then he walked away, ignoring another question on Tanden.

CLIP FILE

NYT: “As Virus Grows Stealthier, Vaccine Makers Reconsider Battle Plans,” by Denise Grady, Apoorva Mandavilli and Katie Thomas …

… “Israel’s Early Vaccine Data Offers Hope,” by Isabel Kershner in Jerusalem: “Israel, which leads the world in vaccinating its population against the coronavirus, has produced some encouraging news: Early results show a significant drop in infection after just one shot of a two-dose vaccine, and better than expected results after both doses. … 

“In the first early report, Clalit, Israel’s largest health fund, compared 200,000 people aged 60 or over who received a first dose of the vaccine to a matched group of 200,000 who had not been vaccinated yet. It said that 14 to 18 days after their shots, the partially vaccinated patients were 33 percent less likely to be infected.

“At about the same time, Maccabi’s research arm said it had found an even larger drop in infections after just one dose: a decrease of about 60 percent, 13 to 21 days after the first shot, in the first 430,000 people to receive it.”

… “Biden Sets in Motion Plan to Ban New Oil and Gas Leases on Federal Land,” by Lisa Friedman: “President Biden on Wednesday will direct federal agencies to determine how expansive a ban on new oil and gas leasing on federal land should be, part of a suite of executive orders that will effectively launch his agenda to combat climate change, two people with knowledge of the president’s plans said Monday.

“An eventual ban on new drilling leases would fulfill a campaign promise that infuriated the oil industry and became a central theme in the fight for the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, where the natural gas extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has become big business.”

WaPo: “One coal state senator holds the key to Biden’s ambitious climate agenda. And it’s not McConnell,” by Sarah Kaplan and Dino Grandoni: “He’s a coal country native, born to a family of mining town mayors. As West Virginia governor, he sued the Environmental Protection Agency. He has scuttled efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, criticized the Paris climate agreement and famously shot a copy of a cap-and-trade carbon proposal full of lead. Now the fate of the most ambitious climate agenda ever proposed by an American president rests in his hands.

“Sen. Joe Manchin III, who is set to become chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is a conservative Democrat from one of the reddest states in the country. In a Senate split 50-50, Manchin is also a crucial swing vote on contentious legislation, defining the limits of what President Biden and the Democrats can accomplish. Over the weekend, he led a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers in talks with the White House over its proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.”

WSJ: “Ricchetti Brothers Rise in D.C., One a Lobbyist, the Other in the White House,” by Julie Bykowicz and Brody Mullins

WSJ Editorial Board: “We thought Joe Biden could have benefited from asking Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer to drop the trial now that Mr. Trump has decamped to Florida. Mr. Trump’s Presidency and his election challenge would have ended in infamy with the riot at the Capitol and the loss of two Georgia seats and Senate GOP control. But Democrats and the press are addicted to Donald J. Trump, so America gets to do this all over again.”

AP: “‘THIS IS ME’: Rioters flaunt involvement in Capitol siege,” by Michael Balsamo, Alanna Durkin Richer and Colleen Long …

… “Biden walking a high wire with Russia ahead of Putin call,” by Matthew Lee

POLITICO: “Trump sends a message to Senate Republicans ahead of his trial,” by Burgess Everett, Marianne LeVine and Meridith McGraw

MOMENTS

9:45 a.m.: The president and VP will receive the daily briefing.

Noon: The Senate will vote to confirm Antony Blinken as secretary of State. 

12:30 p.m.: Jen Psaki will brief, along with Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice.

2 p.m.: The president will deliver remarks about his racial equity agenda and sign executive actions. VP Kamala Harris will attend. 

2:30 p.m.: Senators will be sworn in for the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

TODAY’S TAB

The N.Y. Post has gotten around to rapping on Joe Biden.

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