The Maui News

Quarreling Dems must put aside difference­s, Schumer warns

- By LISA MASCARO

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned fellow Democrats on Thursday they “must put aside our difference­s” as the party struggles to coalesce around President Joe Biden’s huge but now-scaledback package of social services and climate change strategies.

Schumer’s letter to colleagues comes as progressiv­e leaders in Congress are steering them away from what the progressiv­es call a “false choice” over what to keep or cut as Democrats labor to trim what had been a $3.5 trillion proposal to about $2 trillion.

“As with any bill of such historic proportion­s, not every member will get everything he or she wants,” Schumer wrote.

The New York Democrat implored his colleagues to “find the common ground.”

With the calendar slipping toward a new deadline, the Democrats who control Congress are facing mounting pressure to reach a deal or risk the collapse of Biden’s signature domestic policy undertakin­g.

The debate that has been raging behind the scenes is now spilling into public as Biden and his allies in Congress hit another impasse, working to chisel the legislatio­n to a still sizable sum — all to be paid for with taxes on corporatio­ns and the wealthy.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned that “difficult decisions” must be made to reach consensus ahead of a self-imposed Oct. 31 deadline for passage.

Progressiv­e leaders in their own letter to Pelosi, Biden and Schumer, argued the package should not simply be narrowed as centrist lawmakers prefer, but instead kept as Biden’s bigger vision but for fewer than 10 years — “shorter, transforma­tive investment­s” that could be started quickly and then revisited.

“Much has been made in recent weeks about the compromise­s necessary to enact this transforma­tive agenda,” wrote Rep. Pramila Jayapal, DWash., and other leaders of the 96-member progressiv­e caucus in their Wednesday letter.

“We have been told that we can either adequately fund a small number of investment­s or legislate broadly, but only make a shallow, short-term impact. We would argue that this is a false choice.”

Republican­s are dead set against the package. So Biden and his party are left to deliberate among themselves, with all eyes still on two key holdouts, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, whose votes are crucial in the evenly divided Senate.

But that is leading to tough questions: Should Biden keep the sweep of his proposals — free childcare and community college; dental, vision and hearing aid benefits for seniors — or scale back to a few key health and education programs that could be more permanent?

The progressiv­es have held great sway so far in the debate, but unless Manchin and Sinema come on board, there is no clear path to a deal, risking its collapse.

In their letter Wednesday, the progressiv­es said their constituen­ts are depending on them to deliver on the far-ranging package of health care, childcare, family leave, education and other investment­s, including those to fight climate change.

The idea, the progressiv­es said, is start the programs “as quickly as possible,” but for shorter durations, with lawmakers free to campaign in the future for their renewal.

 ?? AP photo ?? Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., leaves a Senate Democratic meeting at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday as a showdown looms with Republican­s over raising the debt limit.
AP photo Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., leaves a Senate Democratic meeting at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday as a showdown looms with Republican­s over raising the debt limit.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States