Senate Adjourns for the Year With Democrats’ Social Spending Plan Stalled

What’s the story?

• The Senate’s 2021 session drew to a close early Saturday morning with the Democratic majority still unable to reach a consensus on their party’s multi-trillion spending package, known as the Build Back Better Act. It’s unclear whether Democrats will be able to get the package back on track in the new year after the Christmas recess concludes.
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had planned to hold a vote on the Build Back Better Act before Christmas, but Democrats haven’t coalesced around the final legislative text for the package. 
• Support from all 50 Democratic senators and Vice President Kamala Harris will be necessary to pass the package using the budget reconciliation process, which is exempt from the Senate’s 60 vote threshold to overcome the legislative filibuster. Democrats have struggled to reach a compromise that will satisfy both the moderate and progressive wings of the party.
• The House passed its version of the Build Back Better Act on a strictly party-line vote on November 19th, but a number of provisions in that legislation were non-starters for some senators in the Democratic caucus, so their negotiations with the Biden White House have focused on crafting a bill that’s acceptable to all of their senators.
• Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has expressed concern with the impact of increased spending on inflation, which reached a 39-year high in November. He has also taken issue with the use of “budget gimmicks” like sunsetting programs after a few years to keep the bill’s cost estimate lower even though there will be an effort to extend those programs at a much higher cost. Other issues between moderates and progressives include the size of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, corporate tax rates, and more. 
• President Joe Biden released a statement Thursday to explain that he will continue to negotiate details of the Build Back Better Act with Manchin:

“It takes to finalize these agreements, prepare the legislative changes, and finish all the parliamentary and procedural steps needed to enable a Senate vote. We will advance this work together over the days and weeks ahead; Leader Schumer and I are determined to see the bill successfully on the floor as early as possible.”

• If Senate Democrats are able to reach an agreement amongst themselves on the bill and pass it sometime in 2022, the bill will have to go to the House for another vote. House Democrats may face similar difficulties in passing the bill given that they hold a narrow majority and can only lose three votes from their members and still pass legislation amid unified Republican opposition.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: brunosan via Flickr / Creative Commons)