House Democratic leaders have informed lawmakers that they intend to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill as well as a $1.75 trillion social spending bill as early as Tuesday, according to Axios.
This weekend, the Democratic caucus hopes to reach an agreement on the $1.75 trillion spending bill, which has been delayed for months due to a rift. A final version is expected to be written on Sunday.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks about his proposed ‘Build Back Better’ social spending bill in the East Room of the White House on October 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day Biden met with House Democrats on Capitol Hill to share details of the $1.75 trillion package which does not include several progressive priorities that were dropped from the legislation during recent negotiations. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/ Washington Times)
Passing the Bill
According to The Hill, there is still time for committees to revise the social spending bill’s text before it goes to the floor for a vote on Tuesday. However, the schedule is “not set in stone yet,” according to an aide who spoke to The Hill.
Negotiations between the White House, the Congress, and the Senate extended into the weekend. However, given the fact that Democrats have missed several self-imposed deadlines in recent months, it is unclear whether they will be able to meet the high bar set for them on Tuesday, according to Newsweek.
There will be a virtual meeting on Sunday afternoon between House Progressives and Senate Democrats, who have withheld their support for the infrastructure bill until they were sure that Senate Democrats would pass the social spending bill.
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Senator Joe Manchin. House Democratic leaders have informed lawmakers that they intend to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill as well as a $1.75 trillion social spending bill as early as Tuesday. (Photo: GettyImages)
The New Framework
On the issue of social spending, Democrats are trying to break the deadlock. The Biden administration released a new framework on Thursday that reduced the bill’s total cost to $1.75 trillion, a significant reduction from the original proposal of $3.5 trillion.
Democrats were hoping that the framework would be enough to persuade the members of Congress’ most liberal caucus that were on the verge of passing a progressive package so that they would join with more moderate and conservative Democrats to send the infrastructure bill to the president for his signature, as per New York Times.
“We badly need a vote on both of these measures,” according to a person familiar with President Joe Biden’s remarks when he spoke privately with members of Congress on Thursday afternoon.
Despite the fact that Moderates and Democratic leaders are eager to pass the infrastructure bill, Progressives will not support it unless it is passed along with the spending bill. The bill needs the support of moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to clear the 50-50 Senate split.
According to Newsweek, these senators have yet to endorse the package despite negotiating significant cuts, which has frustrated progressives in the caucus.
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