President Biden pressed forward on his 10-year, $1.75 trillion social welfare bill Thursday, refusing to give up in the face of Democratic divisions that threaten to sink the centerpiece of his party’s liberal agenda.
In a statement released to the public, the White House said it would spend the rest of the year pushing forward on the bill, named the Build Back Better Act.
“I believe that we will bridge our differences and advance the Build Back Better plan, even in the face of fierce Republican opposition,” said Mr. Biden. “We will advance this work together over the days and weeks ahead.”
Progressives applauded the decision by Mr. Biden, especially after rumors swirled in recent days that the White House would shelve the bill until 2022 facing a blocked legislative road in the Senate.
“The people didn’t deliver Democrats the House, Senate and [the] White House for us to pack up and go home without President Biden’s full agenda,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat.
Mr. Biden’s decision came after increasingly acrimonious negotiations between Senate Democrats. Given that Democrats plan to pass the legislation through the evenly split Senate along party lines, Mr. Biden can afford not a single defection in the Senate for passage
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But Sen. Joe Manchin III, a West Virginia Democrat and key swing vote for the White House’s legislative agenda, still refuses to sign on to the bill, citing in particular concerns about the bill relies on budgetary gimmicks to understate its true cost and that such a huge injection of new federal spending that will only exacerbate rising inflation rates.
Congressional Democrats have kept down the cost of the package by limiting the life spans of some of the more expensive programs below the 10-year horizon of the bill, though the proposed benefits would be politically difficult to end once established.
Mr. Manchin argues it would be improper for the Build Back Better Act to fund social welfare programs over a shorter period if the tax hikes and other measures being used to fund its range of health, education and climate programs last a decade.
“As far as I’m concerned, whatever plan it would be — pre-K, child care, in-home care — then it should be 10 years,” Mr. Manchin said recently. “It shouldn’t just be one year here, three years here, five years there. I think it would be very transparent for the public to see.”
In recent days, that position has led to a fight over Mr. Biden’s proposed one-year extension of the child tax credit, which gives parents with children under the age of 18 between $250 and $300 in monthly direct payments. Mr. Manchin contends that the White House should amend the Build Back Better bill to make the program run over the next 10 years. Allies say that Mr. Manchin, who supports the program, is concerned that it will be too popular in the future to jettison.
Since extending the program over the next decade would cost at least $1.5 trillion, Democrats would either have to propose new tax hikes in the spending package or curtail other initiatives.
Complicating matters is that Mr. Manchin is also insistent the spending bill not go over $1.75 trillion for ten years, or about $175 billion a year, leading to frustration from some fellow Democrats who see Mr. Biden’s legislative agenda hanging in the balance.
“Apparently, Manchin’s approach to this has changed a lot,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat. “I don’t know where he is today or where he’ll be tomorrow.”
The demand has sidelined negotiations on the social welfare package. Democrats say that if they appease Mr. Manchin and extend the life of the credit, that will leave only $200 billion to $300 billion for the rest of their proposals, including universal pre-k, climate change regulations and job training for felons. But losing Mr. Manchin’s vote also means losing the whole package.
“A 50-50 Senate is really problematic. I’ve used the word ’sucks.’ It definitely enables one or two people to hold things up,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, Hawaii Democrat. “I am frustrated.”
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
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