White House, Dems reworking $2T Biden plan

WASHINGTON — The White House and Democrats are hurriedly reworking key aspects of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion domestic policy plan, trimming the social services and climate change programs and rethinking new taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for a scaledback package.

The changes come as Biden more forcefully appeals to the American public for what he says are the middle-class values at the heart of his proposal. As long-sought programs are adjusted or eliminated, Democratic leaders are showing great deference to Biden’s preferences to swiftly wrap up talks and reach a deal in the narrowly held Congress.

Even a new White House idea abandoning plans for reversing the Trump-era tax rates in favor of a approach that would involve taxing the investment incomes of billionaires to help finance the deal appears acceptable to top Democrats. The leadership is racing to finish negotiations, possibly by week’s end.

“We have a goal. We have a timetable. We have milestones, and we’ve met them all,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who predicted on Thursday, “It will pass soon.”

Talks between the White House and Democratic leaders are trying to reduce what had been a $3.5 trillion package to about $2 trillion, in what would be an unprecedented federal effort to expand social services for millions and address the rising threat of climate change.

With stark Republican opposition and no Democratic votes to spare, Biden must keep all lawmakers in his party — centrists and progressives — aligned.

An abrupt change of course came late Wednesday when the White House floated new ways to pay for parts of the proposal by shelving a long-planned increase in corporate and top income tax rates but adding others, including a tax on the investment gains of the very richest Americans.

Biden faces resistance from key holdouts, in particular Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.