In Capitol visit, Biden tries to make peace with feuding Democrats
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[October 02, 2021]
By Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan and Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -In a rare visit to
the U.S. Capitol, President Joe Biden tried on Friday to end a fight
between the moderate and progressive wings of his Democratic Party that
threatened to torpedo his domestic agenda.
Faced with a moderate faction that wanted an immediate vote on a $1
trillion infrastructure bill and a progressive arm that wanted to wait
until there was agreement on a sweeping $3.5 trillion bill to bolster
social spending and fight climate change, Biden sought to split the
difference.
The former senator told his caucus during a 40-minute meeting that they
could delay a vote on the smaller bill and sharply scale back the larger
one to around $2 trillion. But his message that there was no rush belied
the fact that Congress faces multiple approaching critical deadlines.
"It doesn't matter whether it's in six minutes, six days or in six
weeks. We're going to get it done," Biden said.
A source familiar with Biden's remarks at the meeting said he told
lawmakers, "Even a smaller bill can make historic investments."
The delay comes at a bad time for Congress, which has a lot of work
ahead in the next few weeks.
The Treasury Department estimates that it has until about Oct. 18 for
the government's $28.4 trillion borrowing limit to be raised by Congress
or risk a debt default with potentially catastrophic economic
consequences. Then on Dec. 3, the nation faces the risk of a government
shutdown that could be politically damaging for Democrats.
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By early next year, attention will focus on the midterm elections in
November 2022, where history favors Republicans' chances of recapturing
a majority in Congress.
House Democrats confirmed late Friday there would be no vote on the
infrastructure bill that day.
'HAVE TO COME DOWN'
The most vocal opponents to the proposed $3.5 trillion size of the
social and climate bill are moderate Senate Republicans Joe Manchin and
Kyrsten Sinema, either of whom has the ability to prevent a bill from
passing.
With the Senate divided 50-50 between the parties, Democrats hold the
majority by virtue of Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking votes.
They aim to pass the larger bill without Republican support using a
maneuver called "budgetary reconciliation."
House progressives acknowledged after the meeting with Biden that the
$3.5 trillion number would need to be scaled back, though Biden agreed
to their demand of passing the two bills in lock-step. Progressives fear
that passing the smaller bill first would doom the larger one's chances.
"We're going to have to come down on our number," said Representative
Pramila Jayapal, the influential chair of the 95-member Congressional
Progressive Caucus.
But progressive Representative Jamie Raskin suggested there were ways to
cut the bill's price tag while preserving many of the programs Democrats
want to include. The sweeping bill was to provide funding for universal
preschool for all Americans, affordable housing and making homes more
energy efficient.
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![](../images/100221pics/news_g45.jpg)
President Joe Biden talks with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as
they walk out of a meeting held with Democratic lawmakers at the
U.S. Capitol to promote his bipartisan infrastructure bill on
Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 1, 2021. REUTERS/Tom
Brenner
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
"Maybe not everything can be funded for 10 years;
maybe it's going to be a lesser period of time," Raskin said. "At
least we'll be able to develop these programs and make a commitment
to the American people. Then we'll be able to make a judgment after
four years or five years about the programs and whether they are
working."
INFRASTRUCTURE VOTE POSTPONED
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi had previously
committed to moderates to vote on the infrastructure bill this week.
She repeated those commitments on Thursday and Friday, but in the
end her team canceled the vote.
In a letter to Democratic colleagues late on Friday, Pelosi said
"great progress" had been made in negotiations on the social
spending and climate bill but "more time is needed."
She said the infrastructure legislation will pass once there is an
agreement on the larger bill.
Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer, a leader of the
moderates, said in a statement it was "deeply regrettable" that
Pelosi broke her commitment to hold a vote on the infrastructure
bill. He said "a small far left faction" of the House blocked the
vote.
House Republicans are unlikely to help pass the infrastructure bill,
eager to deny Biden a policy victory ahead of the midterms.
Even as they wrangle over Biden's agenda, Democrats face the
fast-approaching debt ceiling deadline.
Republicans want no part of the debt limit increase, saying it is
Democrats' problem since they control Congress and the White House.
Democrats note that about $5 trillion of the nation's debt is the
result of tax cuts and spending passed during Republican Donald
Trump's presidency.
The House approved a bill late on Wednesday suspending the debt
limit through December 2022. The Senate could vote on it "as early
as next week," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, but
Republicans are expected to block it again as they have twice
before.
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(Reporting by David Morgan, Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan;
Additional reporting by Julio-Cesar Chavez, Jeff Mason, Trevor
Hunnicutt and Jason Lange; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by
Scott Malone, Cynthia Osterman and Daniel Wallis)
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