Chuck Schumer is pushing forward with a plan to vote on blowing up the filibuster in order to pass the Democrats’ “voting rights” bill (which is anything but). The vote could happen today, despite the fact that he clearly does not have the votes to succeed, not just in regards to Republicans, who universally oppose the move, but also in regards to several Democrats who are standing in the way.

Over in the House, Democrats did their part, passing the so-called Freedom to Vote Act on a party-line vote. The legislation is so bad that not even Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney crossed the aisle. That vote then put the ball back in the Senate’s court, where again, the filibuster would have to be destroyed in order to secure passage.

Breaking: House passes Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act & sends to Senate for immediate debate

Not a single GOP House member supported voting rights bill

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) January 13, 2022

That’s when something amazing happened. In a surprise move, Kyrsten Sinema called up the White House and let them know she was about to give a floor speech. She then proceeded to essentially end Joe Biden’s presidency, at least from a legislative standpoint.

SINEMA: "There's no need for me to restate my longstanding support for the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation."

There it is. pic.twitter.com/WdQiNNL5Dn

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 13, 2022

.@SenatorSinema: “What is the legislative filibuster other than a tool that requires new federal policy to be broadly supported by senators representing a broader cross section of Americans, a guardrail inevitably viewed as an obstacle by whoever holds the Senate majority?" pic.twitter.com/Ihjtz9nMdo

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 13, 2022

Sinema’s speech represents her most direct and public defense of the filibuster yet, making it appear all but certain that she is not going to back down. That means the Democrat push to rig the 2022 election by legalizing ballot harvesting, banning voter ID, mandating large-scale absentee voting, forcing ridiculous early voting periods, and funding campaigns with taxpayer money is dead in the water. Sinema is the deciding vote, and she’s made her decision. It’s not going to happen — even though she claims to personally support the legislation at hand.

But it’s not just the voting rights farce that’s at stake here. Joe Manchin is a no-go on Biden’s “Build Back Better” reconciliation bill. And while she’s remained in the background, Sinema herself has yet to offer her support for the bill, citing numerous provisions that don’t meet her approval. If the filibuster remains intact, that marks the end of essentially the entirety of Biden’s agenda. I’m not sure what’s left out there for him to pursue going into 2022. Certainly nothing of note.

The reaction to Sinema’s stand from the left was swift. One Democrat called her a white supremacist, while others noted her lack of visibility in Arizona, an obvious hint at primarying Sinema in 2024. Then there was Jennifer Rubin, who made sure to give the most braindead take imaginable.

Doing the GOP’s bidding and using right-wing talking points to deny voting rights legislation is an act of white supremacy. https://t.co/b7NzRCLQ9l

— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) January 13, 2022

Sinema is effectively asking the authors of Jim Crow and vote-rigging to give their permission for her to stop it. This is worse than incoherent or cowardice. It's a moral disgrace. Ask the segregationists for permission to vote for Civil Rights Act?

— Jennifer 'pro-voting' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) January 13, 2022

Yeah, I’m sure that’s going to convince her, guys.

These people never learn. Early on in this debate, out of the goodness of my heart, I warned Democrats on numerous occasions that accusing Sinema of being a racist would backfire. Sure enough, it did. All they’ve succeeded in doing is driving her further into her corner, and that corner has led to the near-total destruction of the Democrat agenda. Yet, even after they’ve borne the consequences of their ill-fated strategy, what do they do? They double down.

As a Republican, I’m loving every minute of this. The Democrats are tearing themselves apart over a bill that was never going to pass constitutional muster anyway. It’s like watching someone spend all their money on one of those claw machines at an arcade. But, by all means, keep feeding it quarters.