President Biden announced on Thursday that he and a bipartisan group of senators had reached a deal on a narrow infrastructure package. But don’t break out the infrastructure champagne just yet! (We might still need it to prop up a bridge.)
 

• The bipartisan agreement includes $579 billion in new spending for roads and highways, water infrastructure, and broadband, among other investments. It would not be paid for with new corporate taxes or a higher gas tax; instead, the pay-fors include enhanced IRS enforcement, repurposed pandemic relief funds, and public-private partnerships—a fundraising method that Democrats flatly rejected during the Trump administration. 
   
• Just 10 senators negotiated the deal—five from each party—and so far it doesn’t have enough support to pass. Progressive Democrats have repeatedly insisted that they won’t support the skinny deal until all 50 Senate Democrats swear a blood oath to pass the rest of Biden’s priorities in a second reconciliation package. And while 11 Republicans backed the deal last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ominously hasn’t yet taken a position on it. “There's closer to 20 votes than 60 votes for the bipartisan proposal today,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Thursday.
   
• The good news: Democratic leaders all promised that there’ll be no paltry physical infrastructure bill without an accompanying, thicc reconciliation package with funding for climate and child care initiatives. Biden pledged, “If this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it. It’s in tandem.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi folksily announced that the House wouldn’t vote on the bipartisan bill until the Senate had passed a reconciliation bill: “There ain't gonna be no bipartisan bill, unless we have a reconciliation bill.”

The exhausting news: It all still comes down to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).
 

• Manchin said on Thursday that he’s open to some kind of reconciliation package, and to unwinding some Trump tax cuts, but wasn’t sold on the $6 trillion price tag that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has floated. (He’s almost certainly not alone, and Sanders indicated he’s open to negotiation.) Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) seems to be on the same page. The trick will be making sure that the two of them can’t whittle the reconciliation bill down to a nub (or walk away from it) once the bipartisan bill has passed.
   
• There are a few ways this could end: 1) Progressives get the commitments they need to support the bipartisan bill and Democrats go on to pass bold climate provisions to great fanfare, 2) progressives trustingly vote for the bipartisan bill only to get screwed over by Manchinema down the line (and Biden sheepishly signs it into law anyway), 3) the bipartisan deal falls apart but moderates nevertheless agree to pass a big honkin’ reconciliation bill (haha), or 4) both bills crumble into dust and we all get to be extras in real-life Mad Max. 

Democratic leaders have laid out a promising dual-track framework for passing the full scope of Biden’s original infrastructure proposals, and at least for the moment, both moderate and progressives Democrats seem prepared to start down both tracks. Biden will just need to make sure they all get to the end at the same time.

Crooked has partnered with QCODE to bring you an incredible new scripted comedy podcast. Edith! explores the untold true-ish story of America’s secret First Female President Edith Wilson, the first lady to Woodrow Wilson.The cast includes Rosamund Pike, Clark Gregg, Stephen Root, D'Arcy Carden, Esther Povitsky, and more. New episodes premiere every Thursday, and the first two are out now! Listen for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts → 

In a devastating blow to whichever company supplies courtrooms with air freshener to cover up lawyer farts, a New York court has suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law over his lies about the 2020 election results. The court held that Giuliani’s actions had “directly inflamed” the tensions that ultimately led to an insurrection: “The seriousness of respondent’s uncontroverted misconduct cannot be overstated. This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and of our current president, Joseph R. Biden.” Giuliani now faces disciplinary hearings which could ultimately result in his disbarment, and the decision could set off separate disciplinary hearings in Washington, DC, where he’s also licenced. A dramatic fall from grace for a man who once held a press conference in a landscaping parking lot stuck his hands down his pants in a Borat movie leaked soy sauce (?) from his head on live television uh, was a mayor?

Peter Thiel is among the billionaires who have been using the humble Roth IRA to shield billions of dollars from taxes, according to leaked IRS data. Using stock deals unavailable to average people, Thiel has taken a retirement account worth less than $2,000 in 1999 and turned it into $5 billion—and as long as he waits to withdraw the money until age 59 and a half, he’ll never pay taxes on any of it. (At the end of 2018, the average Roth IRA was worth $39,108.) The wealthiest Americans have been using accounts intended to help the middle-class save up for retirement as tax shelters for a while now: Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) then-$102 million IRA became a major liability for him during the 2012 election. But Republicans have stymied every proposal to close up that loophole in the tax code, and now here we are, with folks like Peter Thiel buying up Senate seats instead of paying taxes. Pretty neat!

In 2021 mental health is finally a thing, especially as people are not feeling like their normal selves. Let’s support one another and talk openly. Whether or not therapy is your thing, knowing it’s available and affordable is important, for you or perhaps a loved one.  

Millions of people are trying and loving online therapy. It doesn’t have to be sitting around just talking about your feelings.

So, what is therapy, exactly? It’s whatever you want it to be.

You can privately talk to someone if your stress is too much to manage, you’re battling a temper, having relationship issues, anxiety, depression, etc… Whatever you need, there’s no more shame in these normal human struggles. We take care of our bodies, why not our minds, too? Without a healthy mind, being truly happy and at peace is HARD.

BetterHelp is customized online therapy that offers video, phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist, so you don’t have to see anyone on camera if you don’t want to. It’s much more affordable than in-person therapy and you can start communicating with your therapist in under 48 hours.

It’s always a good time to invest in yourself, because you are your greatest asset. See if online therapy is for you by heading to BetterHelp.com/crooked for 10% off your first month.

Three moderate Democrats backed filibuster reform on a private call on Wednesday, including Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).

Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would guarantee equal pay for U.S. national team athletes. 

The Biden administration will relocate thousands of Afghan citizens who worked with American forces for their safety before U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan in September. 

The Senate has confirmed Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, making her the second Black woman to ever serve on that court.