“Look, you are getting punked,’” said Steele. “Understand you’re getting punked and come back at him (McConnell). Call his bluff. they have no leverage over you. You have the majority and they know it, but they’re going to punk you into a situation where you give up something you don’t have to give up. For what? For what? Ceding power to McConnell? He has none. You have the majority! Use it, for heaven’s sake! Sheesh, this is not rocket science.”
Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) doesn’t have the votes to get rid of the filibuster. She’s presumably thinking about Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who told Fox News that he would vote to uphold the filibuster. It’s contrary to comments that Manchin has made in the past about the filibuster and it also assumes that no Republicans would vote to end the filibuster. If Manchin refuses to agree to end the filibuster, Democrats could make a deal with a Republican up for reelection in 2022 seeking legislation to pass to promote in their campaigns.
Curious about how NASA will land the next mission to the Red Planet – the Perseverance Mars rover? Here’s your chance to ask our expert!
After nearly 300 million miles, our Perseverance rover completes its journey to Mars on Feb. 18. To reach the surface of the Red Planet, it has to survive the harrowing final phase known as Entry, Descent, and Landing. Mission engineer Chloe Sackier will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Thursday, Feb. 4 from noon to 1pm ET here on our Tumblr! Make sure to ask your question now by visiting http://nasa.tumblr.com/ask.
Chloe Sackier is a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. She works on the Mars 2020 Entry, Descent and Landing team, tasked with safely delivering the Perseverance rover to the surface of Mars.
The landing system on the mission includes a parachute, descent vehicle, and an approach called a “skycrane maneuver” for lowering the rover on a tether to the surface during the final seconds before landing.
Perseverance will use new technologies for landing, including Terrain-Relative Navigation. This sophisticated navigation system allows the rover to detect and avoid hazardous terrain by diverting around it during its descent through the Martian atmosphere.
A microphone allows engineers to analyze entry, descent, and landing. It might also capture sounds of the rover at work, which would provide engineers with clues about the rover’s health and operations.
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