Biden at Capitol to Pitch $1.75T Agenda, Unite Democrats

Written by LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI and ALAN FRAM

President Joe Biden traveled to Capitol Hill early Thursday to make the case to House Democrats for a dramatically scaled-back domestic policy package, $1.75 trillion of social services and climate change programs the White House believes can pass the 50-50 Senate.

Biden is eager to have a deal in hand before he departs later in the day for global summits, but the revised new package is losing some of Democrats’ top priorities as the president’s campaign ambitions make way for the political realities of the narrowly divided Congress.

A paid family leave and efforts to lower prescription drug pricing are now gone entirely from the package, according to senior administration officials who requested anonymity to brief reporters about the emerging details.

Still in the mix: Free prekindergarten for all youngsters, expanded health care programs — including the launch of a $35 billion new hearing aid benefit for seniors on Medicare — and $555 billion to tackle climate change.

There’s also a one-year extension of a child care tax credit that was put in place during the COVID-19 rescue, new child care subsidies and $100 billion to bolster the legal immigration and border processing system.

Asked as he arrived on Capitol Hill if he has enough support from his party for passage, Biden told reporters: “Yes.”

Taking shape after months of prolonged negotiations, the White House cast the overall package as the largest-ever investment in climate change and the biggest improvement to the nation’s healthcare system in more than a decade.

Revenue to help pay for the package would also come from rolling back some of the Trump administration’s 2017 tax cuts, along with stepped-up enforcement of tax-dodgers by the IRS. Biden has vowed to cover the entire cost of the plan, ensuring it does not pile onto the debt load.

Biden will make remarks from the White House about the package, and a related $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, before departing later Thursday on global summits.

But the framework is not yet the full legislative text, which lawmakers and aides cautioned has not yet been agreed to by the lawmakers. Advocates urging Democrats to support climate change efforts protested outside the Capitol.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the progressive caucus leader, said unveiling the new framework “will show tremendous momentum. But we want to see the actual text because we don’t want any confusion and misunderstandings.”

Democrats’ disputes over the big domestic policy bill has held up passage of a separate $1 trillion package of road, broadband and other infrastructure projects that faces a Sunday deadline for a vote. But Biden will make the push to send both over the “finish line.”

In the divided Senate, Biden needs all Democrats’ support with no votes to spare. The House is similarly split with just a few vote margin.

Despite a series of deadlines, Democrats have been unable to close the deal among themselves, and Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the package. At best, Democrats could potentially reach a framework that could send Biden overseas with a deal in hand and unlock the process while the final details were sewn up.

Applying pressure, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a Thursday committee hearing to spur the Biden package along toward a full House vote, though timing remained uncertain.

Two key Democratic holdouts, Sens Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have almost single-handedly reduced the size and scope of their party’s big vision.

White House officials have been meeting repeatedly with Manchin and Sinema, two senators who now hold enormous power, essentially deciding whether or not Biden will be able to deliver on the Democrats’ major campaign promises.

A Sunday deadline loomed for approving the smaller public works bill or risk allowing funds for routine transportation programs to expire.

Photo via AP Photo/Andrew Harnik.

‹

Bipartisan Bill Leaves Out Key Climate, Clean Energy Steps

Written by MATTHEW DALY The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package unveiled by the Senate includes more than $150 billion to boost clean energy and promote “climate resilience” by making schools, ports and other structures better able to withstand extreme weather events such as storms and wildfires. But the bill, headed for a Senate vote this week, falls […]

Infrastructure Senators Brush Off Criticism From Left, Right

Written by LISA MASCARO Often elusive, the political center is holding steady in the Senate as a coalition of Democratic and Republican senators brushes off critics to push the $1 trillion infrastructure package toward final passage. On the left, the Democrats have withstood the complaints of liberals who say the proposal falls short of what’s needed […]

Infrastructure Deal: Senate Suddenly Acts To Take up Bill

Written by LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING and ALAN FRAM The Senate voted Wednesday night to begin work on a nearly $1 trillion national infrastructure plan, acting with sudden speed after weeks of fits and starts once the White House and a bipartisan group of senators agreed on major provisions of the package that’s key to […]

Infrastructure Talks Leave Biden’s Entire Agenda at Risk

Written by ALAN FRAM President Joe Biden’s latest leap into the Senate’s up-and-down efforts to clinch a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure deal comes with even more at stake than his coveted plans for boosting road, rail and other public works projects. The outcome of the infrastructure bargaining, which for weeks has encountered one snag after […]

Biden Wants Spending To Boost Economy, but GOP to Block Vote

Written by JOSH BOAK and ALEXANDRA JAFFE President Joe Biden said his infrastructure and families agenda must be passed to sustain the economic momentum of his first six months in office, aiming to set the tone for a crucial week of congressional negotiations on the two bills. But a Wednesday deadline set by Senate Majority Leader […]

Biden Extols Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal as a Good Start

Written by JONATHAN LEMIRE, JOSH BOAK and LISA MASCARO President Joe Biden announced on Thursday a hard-earned bipartisan agreement on a pared-down infrastructure plan that would make a start on his top legislative priority and validate his efforts to reach across the political aisle. But he openly acknowledged that Democrats will likely have to tackle much of […]

Biden Ends GOP Infrastructure Talks, but New Group Emerges

Written by LISA MASCARO and JOSH BOAK President Joe Biden ended talks with a group of Republican senators on a big infrastructure package on Tuesday and started reaching out to senators from both parties in a new effort toward bipartisan compromise, setting a summer deadline for Congress to pass his top legislative priority. The president is walking away […]

Biden Speech Takeaways: More Conciliation Than Conflict

Written by JOSH BOAK and AAMER MADHANI The State of the Union address tends to have a ritual rhythm. Grand entrance. Applause. Platitudes. Policies. Appeals for Unity, real or imagined. President Joe Biden checked those boxes, and a few more, during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. In part, he seemed […]

Human Chain Formed To Help After Pittsburgh Bridge Collapse

Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A two-lane bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh early Friday, prompting rescuers to rappel nearly 150 feet while others formed a human chain to help rescue multiple people from a dangling bus. The collapse came hours before President Joe Biden was to visit the city to press for his $1 trillion infrastructure […]

Biden at Capitol to Pitch $1.75T Agenda, Unite Democrats

Written by LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI and ALAN FRAM President Joe Biden traveled to Capitol Hill early Thursday to make the case to House Democrats for a dramatically scaled-back domestic policy package, $1.75 trillion of social services and climate change programs the White House believes can pass the 50-50 Senate. Biden is eager to have […]

›