Democrats hurtle toward key decisions on Biden’s agenda

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden’s sweeping infrastructure, tax, climate and social policy agenda hangs on a political highwire act now playing out on Capitol Hill at unprecedented speed.

The House and Senate are out of session for a July 4 holiday break, but discussions are continuing among Democrats about the parameters of potentially monumental legislation that represents Biden’s best chance to deliver on many of his campaign promises, according to interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers, aides and lobbyists.

This legislation, which is set to be passed without Republican support separately from a parallel, bipartisan infrastructure measure, may not be ultimately passed until fall or later.

But Democrats have only a matter of weeks to settle many of the biggest policy questions surrounding a bill that could transform much of American life: How much will it spend?

How much of that spending should be offset with tax increases and other revenue measures? And which competing items on a laundry list of priorities should ultimately be passed into law?

“This is going to be an incredibly intense period, because we’ve got to come to agreement on the big pieces quickly in order to meet the moment and accomplish our goals,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a Senate Budget Committee member. “And because we have no margin for error in the Senate, that means we’ve got to be burning up the phone lines and coming to some understandings.”

The discussions are taking place independently of the bipartisan talks on the separate bill that would fund “hard” infrastructure - roads, bridges, airports, railroads, pipes, broadband internet and other bricksand-mortar spending that some Republicans are willing to support.

But it’s all part of the same legislative ballet: While Biden has insisted the two bills are moving on separate tracks, Democratic congressional leaders continue to insist they move in parallel in order to placate liberals concerned that their priorities might be left behind. That, in turn, has vexed many Republicans who believe the bipartisan bill will only enable a vast Democratic spending spree.

Now, key Democrats are focused on the second and potentially much larger bill that would include provisions that Republicans are not expected to support - items like climate measures, expansions of healthcare coverage, broad new college subsidies and the tax increases necessary to make those measures permanent.

The speed and sensitivity of the negotiations reflect twin concerns: For one, Democrats are operating with some of the thinnest voting margins Capitol Hill has even seen, with a 50-50 Senate majority secured by Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote, and a mere four-seat margin in the House. Passing anything without Republicans will require virtual unanimity.