Democrats begin to outline revived Build Back Better Package

Mr Manchin said last month that he was opposed to the party’s plan for nearly $2 trillion, scuttling his chances in the 50-50 Senate, with the party shunning a massive package for several weeks. Now, after the failure of a separate push on election legislation, Democrats are again turning to the economic plan, which President Biden said on Wednesday that the party could cut into pieces.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Thursday that Democrats will not try to pass as many pieces of legislation because of procedural problems. But the party is likely to lower its ambitions further, she said.

“What the president calls ‘chunks,’ I expect will be a bigger bill going forward; it may be more limited, but it’s still important,” she said. He said Democrats may have to rename the law, currently known as the Build Back Better Act.

Still, Democrats on Capitol Hill said Mr Biden’s remarks showed more certainly that the White House would be willing to make major changes to the economic package in hopes of moving toward a deal. Mr Biden, a White House aide and Democrats on Capitol Hill, have begun to identify priorities for a new package: nearly $500 billion in stimulus to reduce carbon emissions, which Manchin has said he supports. as well as measures aimed at reducing health care costs. and extended child care programs.

According to lawmakers and aides, health care provisions would include expanding subsidies for insurance premiums and empowering the government to negotiate the price of certain drugs. Democrats also see a universal preschool program, as well as subsidies for child care costs, as part of a revival effort.

Such a package could omit programs from the house-pass version of the plan, including funding for housing and expanding Medicare to cover hearings. Democrats have already dropped several proposals, including the creation of a 12-week paid-leave program and an offer of free community college, as they tried to tailor the bill to centrist demands.

All early discussions among Democrats are based on trying to win the support of Mr Manchin, who said on Thursday that the party would have to completely restart its months-long effort on the bill.

“I’m looking forward to talking to everyone and starting with a clean sheet of paper,” Manchin said. “Whenever we start, we’ll start from the beginning.”

He again raised concerns about inflation, which he said could be boosted by a bigger spending package.

“The main thing we need to do is take care of inflation, organize our financial house, get the tax code that works, take care of the pharmaceuticals driving the high prices people away, we can fix it.” . We can do a lot of cool things,” he said.

Democrats are using a process called reconciliation to push the package forward. Reconciliation allows lawmakers to approve tax-and-spend measures with a simple majority in the Senate and lower the 60-vote limit required for other bills. But the process comes with a number of limitations, including how often it can be used, which prevents Democrats from trying to pass multiple bills through the process.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki commented Friday that Democrats are focusing on a bill that could lead to reconciliation, rather than trying to divide things and pass them with 10 Republican votes. be done.

He said, “We need to do as much as we can for the Build Back Better agenda.

When he came out in opposition to the legislation in December, Manchin argued against Democrats’ plan to fund myriad programs for the short term in hopes of expanding them later, saying the potential cost was disguised. Democrats are now working to select a smaller core of the initiative for longer-term funding, keeping it in the $1.75 trillion price range. Mr Manchin had earlier indicated that he could spend roughly that much.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D, Mass.) said, “We need to get as far across the finish line as we can. It’s hard because we have the lowest possible majority and that means it takes every vote and it’s going to be difficult.” Which means we have to do whatever it takes to get every vote.”

Democrats will face a particularly fraught choice over the expanded child tax credit, a central component of the House-pass plan and the subject of regular criticism by Manchin. The party hoped to continue offering a more generous child tax credit in monthly cash installments to a larger group of Americans.

That extension expires at the end of 2021, and Democrats have begun to sketch how they might revive an older version that could attract Mr Manchin’s support. In a blow to some Democrats on Capitol Hill, Mr Biden said on Wednesday that Democrats may not be able to include any expansion of the child tax credit into law.

Richard Neill (D., Mass.), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said he would like to change the expansion in a way that is conducive to Mr. Manchin.

“I think child credit is very popular in the Democratic caucuses,” he said. “We need to determine which side Joe Manchin is on.”

On the revenue side of the equation, Democrats expect their proposed tax increase to win the support of their caucuses, although Mr Manchin has expressed disappointment that the party moved away from raising top rates for corporations and personal income. Is. The party removed those tax increases from the package to address the concerns of Sen. Kirsten Cinemas (D., Ariz.).

The party will still have to grapple with demands to lift the $10,000 limit on state and local tax deductions. Democrats in high-tax states like New York and New Jersey have removed the cap, which Republicans put in their 2017 tax law, a priority in the bill. Other Democrats have said that lifting the cap primarily benefits high-income Americans.

A group of three House Democrats said again Thursday that any deal would have to include measures to address state and local tax, known as the SALT, cuts.

“We support the president’s agenda, and if there are any efforts that include changes to the tax code, a SALT fix should be part of it. No salt, no deal,” Reps. Tom Suozzi (D., NY), Mickey Sherrill (D., NJ) and Josh Gottheimer (D., NJ) said.