Spending plan offers Democrats grueling test
WASHINGTON — House Democrats are set to begin writing significant swaths of their $3.5 trillion tax-and-spending plan Thursday, even as new political fissures among their ranks threaten to complicate its path to passage.
The days ahead are likely to be grueling for the party’s lawmakers, who are about to embark on the tough task of translating President Joe Biden’s broader economic agenda into law. To start, Democrats intend to focus their efforts on proposals to expand Medicare benefits, authorize new family and medical leave programs and make child care and community college more affordable.
But Democrats are starting their legislative slog at a precarious time politically, as the party’s liberal and moderate factions increasingly snipe at each other over the price tag and policy scope of their still-forming bill.
On one side are lawmakers including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who initially hoped to spend even over $3.5 trillion over 10 years — and maintains a strong preference for aggressive policy changes, particularly in areas like health care. Opposite are centrists such as Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., who has signaled he may support a tax-and-spending package only if it is closer to half the size of what Democrats have proposed.
The tensions spilled into public view Wednesday, less than a week after Manchin called on Congress to hit “pause” on the efforts. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., rejected the idea in a news conference, reiterating the need for lawmakers to “all come together to get something big done.”
The early disputes threaten to complicate Democrats’ attempts to reach consensus quickly. With other potential political crises brewing — including a battle over government funding and Washington’s ability to pay its debts — the ticking clock only adds to the pressure facing the party’s leaders in September.
“It is no great secret that you’ve got 200-plus members of the House and there are disagreements there. We have 50 members in the Senate, there are disagreements there. What we are trying to do is unprecedented probably in the last 50 or 60 years,” Sanders said.
For Democrats, the process over the next few days to resolve their policy differences is critical. The party possesses only a slight advantage in both the House and Senate, so it cannot afford defections — even as it prepares to rely on a legislative maneuver known as reconciliation to sidestep a Republican filibuster.
Privately, some Democrats have acknowledged this week they may have no choice but to whittle down their spending as they try to assuage moderates’ concerns. But aides to liberal-leaning lawmakers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe their bosses’ thinking, stressed that a package as low as $1.5 trillion is essentially a nonstarter — a pledge that dooms any bill at that size.
Appearing at a news conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appeared to acknowledge both of her party’s factions. “I don’t know what the final number will be,” she said. “But we have to talk about what does that take? Where would you cut child care, family medical leave paid for, universal pre-k, home health care?”
Adding to the urgency, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday informed Congress it had less time than it anticipated to address the debt limit before the U.S. government runs out of money and special measures to pay its bills. The new deadline is probably in October, she said, imploring lawmakers not to wait “until the last minute” to address the risk.