Biden and Democrats Push for Budget Deal This Week As Frictions Continue


WASHINGTON — President Biden and Democratic congressional leaders raced Monday to reach consensus on a domestic policy and climate package and pushed for a vote within days, even as critical disagreements persist over how to pay for health benefits, paid leave, environmental provisions and sprawl. plan.

Negotiators were negotiating with centrist dissidents in their parties pressing to reduce the size of the bill, as they approached a deal that could cost around $1.75 trillion over 10 years, half of the plan Democrats approved earlier this year.

They united around a plan that would extend monthly payments to families with children, create generous tax incentives for clean energy use, and provide federal support for childcare, aged care, and universal kindergarten. A series of tax increases, including a new wealth tax for the country’s billionaires, will pay for the startups.

But amid disagreements over the details of possible Medicare and Medicaid expansions, a new paid family and medical leave program, programs to combat climate change, and a proposal to cut the cost of prescription drugs, a final agreement has been difficult to come by. Top Democrats were also trying to raise the price tag to $2 trillion, still well below the $3.5 trillion level they had laid out in their budget plans.

Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a centrist spearheading efforts to scale down the bill, breathed new life into the talks, pushing to repeal or replace a provision that would put a toll on methane emissions, a powerful planet. -Heating pollutant seeping from oil and gas wells, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.

Manchin has proposed the strongest climate change provision in the package, a $150 billion program that would replace coal and gas-fired power plants with wind and solar power, but that money could be repurposed.

While Republicans uniformly oppose the bill, Democrats can’t afford to lose a single vote from their party in the 50-to-50 Senate, giving any senator the power to screw up the plan over a single sentence. This complicated the task Mr. Biden and his party leaders faced as they prepared to pass the bill through Congress using a special budget process known as reconciliation, which protected it from a scam.

Administration officials and Democratic leaders had hoped a deal would be secured before Mr Biden appeared at the United Nations climate conference, which begins in Glasgow on Sunday, when a stronger international response to global warming is expected. Mr Biden, who traveled to New Jersey on Monday to introduce the law, told reporters it would be “very, very positive to have this done before the trip”.

During an appearance at a transit care facility in Kearny, NJ, Mr. Biden said it was “changing the lives of the American people” and encouraged payments and childcare assistance to families with children in the plan. “So let’s finish this – let’s go.”

The president also called for swift passage of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill in the House, whose passage could depend on a deal on the reconciliation package. Liberals refused to support the infrastructure measure until a broader policy package emerged.

Democrats want to pass the public works bill, approved by the Senate over the summer, by Sunday, when a number of transportation programs are scheduled to end. Enactment of the law will also give the party popular legislative success, days before the crucial governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey on November 2.

But the reconciliation bill, widely seen as the last major piece of legislation that has a chance to pass this year, is a heavy burden.

“Nobody said that passing such a transformation law would be easy, but we are on track to do it,” said majority leader New York Senator Chuck Schumer.

Meeting with Mr. Biden and Mr. Schumer at the president’s home in Wilmington, Del. on Sunday, Mr. Manchin continued to be a driving force in the talks as he suppressed objections to key components of the plan. He was against the paid leave program and proposals to expand Medicare and Medicaid, according to officials briefed on the negotiations.

“There are a lot of concerns. Manchin told reporters on Monday that he is determined to keep the cost of the package above $1.5 trillion. “We’re just looking at how we put it together.”

A proponent of his state’s coal industry, Mr. Manchin is also the foremost opponent of basic climate provisions, which has long been a priority for the majority of his committee. As Mr. Biden prepared to appear on the world stage to promote the United States’ commitment to tackling climate change, it was seen as vital for him to sign a compromise.

A spokesperson for Mr. Manchin did not respond to a request for comment on his position on climate provisions. Those briefed on the talks warned that details were still changing.

Mr Manchin is among lawmakers who voiced concerns about expanding Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing benefits, in a push led by Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who is chair of the Budget Committee.

“If we’re not financially responsible, that’s really worrying,” Mr Manchin said on Monday, emphasizing that he doesn’t want to expand the federal health program for the elderly without addressing financial stability.

He also expressed concern about a push to cover a Medicaid expansion. dozen states Its leaders refused to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act. to be included in the plan, A priority for Democrats People representing mostly southern states, such as Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock.

But West Virginia is among the states to expand Medicaid and pay 10 percent of the cost. Mr. Manchin said it would be unfair for the federal government to cover the full cost of states that did not do so, in essence rewarding them for resisting.

Democrats must also resolve their differences on how to finance the plan, after promising moderates in their ranks that it will be paid in full. Moderates opposed Medicare’s proposal to lower the cost of prescription drugs by allowing it to negotiate prices with drug companies, prompting negotiators to look at narrower versions of this approach.

Details of the billionaires tax, an entirely new approach to taxing the wealth, were still being hammered out, even as top Democrats said the tax could be announced in the next few days. And negotiators were still working out how to meet demand, particularly from New York and New Jersey lawmakers, to increase the amount of state and local taxes people could deduct from their federal tax bills, which would benefit those living in high-tax states. .

The proposal, which could cost hundreds of billions of dollars, is a priority for Mr. Schumer as well as moderate Democrats who need votes to pass the compromise bill, including New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer and New York’s Tom Suozzi.

As Arizona Senator Kyrsten Cinema, another centrist in the plan, rejected increases in corporate and individual tax rates, negotiators were discussing a number of alternatives, including a wealth tax, a global corporate minimum tax, a tax on what companies report. strengthen shareholders and the IRS’s ability to collect unpaid taxes.

“I think we’re going to find a way to get together and get all 50 Democrats on board,” said Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who was heavily involved in the finance debate. “We’re all trying to go in the same direction.”

Strongly opposed to the domestic policy plan, Republicans opposed the new tax proposals discussed Monday.

“Our Democratic colleagues were so happy with the tax hike that they’re throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what’s sticking,” said minority leader Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “Now they’re talking about rewiring the entire economy after a few days of discussion behind an envelope. This is a big and untested change.”

Mr. Biden did not directly address the issue or the state of the negotiations in his speech. But he outlined the benefits of his plans, weighing in on efforts to repair bridges and invest in passenger rail service to win voters in a state where Democratic Governor Phil Murphy ran for reelection in November. 2nd.

Mr. Biden stopped by an early childhood education center earlier in the day as part of an effort to shed light on his plan to provide federally guaranteed kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One on Monday that Democrats had gotten to the point where they were negotiating “the finest details” of the package.

“We have a strong base of agreement,” said Ms Jean-Pierre. “We’re still negotiating. We’re almost there.”

Coral Davenport, Jim Tankersley and Margot Sanger-Katz contributing reporting.



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