President Biden and many Democratic lawmakers wanted the biggest social investment in history. Here's a look at what compromise could mean.
Congressional Democrats eager to make progress on President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan are beginning to confront the harrowing challenge of squeezing their ambitious remodeling of the nation’s social safety net programs into the much smaller package needed to win over key centrists.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was hoping an agreement on a framework would unleash support from a group of progressives who have said they would not vote for the first portion of Biden’s plan — a bipartisan bill to repair the nation’s roads and bridges and upgrade other infrastructure — until they are assured that centrist Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona will support the second portion — the social safety net bill.
The new focus on approximately $2 trillion for the social spending plan comes after Manchin said for the first time publicly Thursday that he could support no more than $1.5 trillion, meaning Democrats are all but certain to have to significantly reshape the package. It cannot pass the Senate without Manchin’s and Sinema’s votes, assuming all 50 of the chamber’s Republicans continue to oppose it.
A third possible track, delaying the start of the benefits to reduce the cost, poses another challenge: Democrats would have no tangibles to talk about at home before the midterm election next year. “Whatever we put in there, I don’t want it to take three or four years before the people feel it,” said Rep. Mark Takano .
While Sinema has been far less transparent with her interests, what she has revealed publicly has made clear that she and Manchin have different interests. She has emphasized climate, while Manchin does not. And she has shown concern about inflation and tax hikes.
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