Top Democrats admit $ 3.5 trillion budget bill to shrink

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Top line

Democrats involved in negotiations on a $ 3.5 trillion budget bill and an accompanying $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill acknowledged on Sunday that the price of the old legislation is likely to fall. decline amid negotiations with moderate Democrats, claiming what President Joe Biden told House Democrats behind closed doors. door meeting Friday.

Highlights

Cedric Richmond, Biden’s senior adviser and former congressman, said in a Meet the press interview “people will be disappointed. People are not going to get everything they want “in the infrastructure negotiations, adding:” It is the art of legislating.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said in a CNN State of the Union interview, he is backing $ 3.5 trillion but, just like in the negotiations he was involved in over the Affordable Care Act, there will be “concessions,” which he said “will lead to a different number “.

The comments come as the White House and Democratic leaders are still trying to negotiate a deal with moderate senses Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona), who have firmly ruled out backing a 3,500 package. billions of dollars.

Progressives still refuse to vote to pass the infrastructure bill, which focuses on “essential” projects like roads, bridges and waterways, until there is agreement on the project. budget law, which focuses on social programs like Medicare and the Child Tax Credit.

Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), A progressive leader who fought hard for $ 3.5 trillion in spending, told CNN that the $ 1.5 trillion figure put forward by Manchin “was wrong. not happen, ”but said the end cost will likely be between $ 1.5 trillion and $ 3.5 trillion.

This was echoed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Who, like Jayapal, was initially in favor of a $ 6 trillion proposal, but who said in an ABC This week interview that while he considers $ 3.5 trillion to be a “minimum”, he also accepts that it “must be given and received”.

Key context

Biden traveled to Capitol Hill on Friday to speak at a House Democratic Caucus meeting, a development widely interpreted as a victory for progressives. He told lawmakers he saw infrastructure and social spending bills as linked and suggested the price of the social spending bill would likely fall to between $ 1.9 trillion and $ 2.2 trillion, members said. who were in the room. Forbes.

Crucial quote

“It was historic,” Durbin said of Biden’s trip to Capitol Hill, even as some moderates from both parties balked at the display. “It shows he wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines and post tweets. He rolled up his sleeves and… went to Capitol Hill.

Large number

51. This is the number of votes needed for the budget bill to go through a process called reconciliation, which allows some tax laws to bypass the Senate filibuster 60-vote threshold, but still requires the support of the Senate. 50 Senate Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris.

What to watch out for

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a new deadline for passing the infrastructure bill, once again putting Congressional Democrats on the path to a showdown. The speaker said in a letter to House Democrats on Saturday that she wanted it passed by October 31, but it is not clear whether Manchin and Sinema will reach a resolution with the White House by here the.

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