Senate Republicans force Dems to vote on CRT, fracking, abortion and more in marathon 'vote-a-rama'

Senate Republicans forced Democrats to take tough votes on issues ranging from critical race theory to abortion to fracking during a 14-hour "vote-a-rama" Tuesday and Wednesday as they put up resistance to the budget resolution that opens the door to Democrats passing a $3.5 trillion spending plan.

But GOP senators extracted their pound of flesh during the vote-a-rama, getting Democrats on the record on dozens of issues that could serve as messaging points during the 2022 midterms. They even forced Democrats to split on several issues, therefore successfully passing some of their amendments.  One of those victories was an amendment from Sen. Tom Cotton R-Ark., supporting banning federal funds from backing critical race theory in schools. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., joined all 49 Republicans present to vote in favor of the amendment.