Biden rallies Senate Democrats on spending goals after they reach $3.5 trillion budget deal

White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Wednesday morning that the president will “continue making the case for the duel track approach to build the economy back better by investing in infrastructure, protecting our climate, and supporting the next generation of workers and families.”

She noted in a follow-up that she misspelled the word “dual.”

Democratic leaders hope to push versions of the resolution through the House and Senate before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess.

But they acknowledged Tuesday night that their work is cut out for them because the budget plan offers only a broad outline on spending that would have to be fleshed out in subsequent legislation.

“We know we have a long road to go,” Schumer said.

“I make no illusions how challenging this is going to be,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chair of the caucus.

The resolution, if approved, would pave the way for Democrats to pass a later spending bill in the Senate through the so-called budget reconciliation process. That means Democrats would need only a simple majority in Senate — which is evenly divided 50-50 with Republicans — rather than the 60 votes that the GOP could demand through the filibuster rules.

If all 50 Senate Democrats back such a bill, they could pass it even with no Republican support, as Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris could cast the tie-breaking vote.

Senate Democratic leaders are working to satisfy both the moderates in the caucus, who have expressed unease about funding the mammoth spending plans, and the progressives who have called for much more money to be spent.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom Schumer credited with leading the charge to include expanded Medicare coverage in the budget resolution, and other progressives had initially pushed for a $6 trillion price limit for a budget. Biden had proposed less than $5 trillion.

Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., expressed a starkly different sentiment Tuesday, telling reporters, “I think everything should be paid for. We’ve put enough free money out.”

In a statement Wednesday morning, Manchin said he looks forward to reviewing the agreement crafted by the Senate Budget Committee.

“I’m also very interested in how this proposal is paid for and how it enables us to remain globally competitive,” he said. “I will reserve any final judgment until I’ve had the opportunity to thoroughly evaluate the proposal.”

The budget will reportedly align with Biden’s promise not to raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 annually.

Sanders said Tuesday night the legislation demonstrates that “the wealthy and large corporations are going to start paying their fair share of taxes, so that we can protect the working families in this country.”

Another progressive, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told NBC News that she hoped Biden will assure the caucus that he is “going to put all his energy into making this happen.”

Warren also said she wanted to hear from the president about how their efforts will impact key policy areas, “because of all of those pieces — childcare, climate, home and community based care, the Child Tax Credit, free community college — all of those are about how we build a future going forward.”

The senator added that she “will always be pushing to make the number bigger but right now, my job is to say, ‘that’s a lot of money.'”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/14/biden-to-rally-senate-democrats-on-spending-goals-after-they-reach-3point5-trillion-budget-deal.html