Framework to pay for $3.5T bill, Dems say

WASHINGTON — The White House and congressional Democrats have agreed to a “framework” of options to pay for their huge, emerging social and environment bill, top Democrats said Thursday, but they offered no details and the significance was unclear.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced the development as Biden administration officials and Democratic congressional leaders negotiated behind the scenes on the mammoth package of spending and tax initiatives.

Democratic leaders and President Joe Biden have wanted the measure to total some $3.5 trillion over 10 years.

But the party has been divided over the final size and many of the details, and there has been no public word that agreements have been reached on any of those crucial questions. Republicans are solidly opposed to the package, and Democrats will be able to push it through Congress only if they limit their defections to three House members and none in the Senate.

The statements by Schumer and Pelosi left unclear whether administration and congressional bargainers had made decisions actually paring down their options for financing the bill, or were simply working off a broad menu of options that had already existed.

Also unclear was whether the “framework” was a step toward resolving the myriad disputes between rank-and-file party moderates and progressives that have slowed work on the legislation, and there was no initial public indication that it had.

Schumer later told reporters he, Pelosi and the chairs of the Senate and House tax-writing committees had agreed to options that could be used to finance the bill when lawmakers decide on its overall price tag.

In separate remarks, he, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden each suggested the list of possibilities largely came from revenue proposals that Neal’s panel has approved and Wyden has proposed.