Biden is slated to hold a series of sessions on Wednesday with Democratic lawmakers, including party leaders, as he attempts to spark an intraparty war between progressives and moderates that could derail his $4 trillion economic agenda.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Biden is expected to meet with House Speaker Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as a broad range of Democrats representing different branches of the ideological spectrum, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The burst of meetings comes as Democrats jockey for control in a narrowly divided Congress, a battle that could ultimately derail both parts of Biden's agenda: the $1 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a second, multi-million-dollar package which Democrats plan to pass through party lines via budget reconciliation.
I hope Biden possesses the secret sauce, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Biden on Tuesday evening. The president of the United States is always a very influential figure, and I know he wants both bills passed. At the heart of the division is a fight over the size and scope of the reconciliation bill: Progressives say that $3.5 trillion is the bare minimum needed to vastly expand the social safety net and combat climate change. Centrists are wary of a multi-trillion-dollar bill funded by a slew of new taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations, no less after the coronavirus pandemic pushed the U.S. deficit to a record high.
With their incredibly thin congressional majorities, Democrats face a delicate balancing act in pursuing their so-called two-track agendas approving both a bipartisan deal and a larger tax and spending bill or they risk losing the support of moderate or progressive members.
In the House, where Pelosi had three seats to spare, it is possible that progressive lawmakers would torpedo the bipartisan deal if it's not tied to the larger reconciliation package that would build as the basis of President Biden's economic agenda and establish health, education and environment programs.
Pelosi committed to a Sept. 27 deadline to vote on the infrastructure bill, which includes more than $500 billion in new money for traditional projects like roads and bridges, in order to squelch a national rebellion from centrist lawmakers.
But moderate lawmakers are seeking similar assurances that the comprehensive spending package doesn't crumble amid some pushback from progressive lawmakers in both Senate and House, including Senators. Kyrsten Sinema of West Virginia and Joe Manchin of Arizona. Manchin has called for a pause in the reconciliation bill that Democrats plan to pass along a party-line vote.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has remained adamant that her members will not vote for the Senate-approved infrastructure bill until the upper chamber also passes $3.5 trillion bill?
Asked Tuesday about whether progressives were reluctant to vote back the bipartisan plan, Jayapal said: Try us. At the same time, moderate Democrats vow to rebel if the left manages to upend the Infrastructure Bill, which Biden has touted as a major bipartisan accomplishment. Democrats are still crafting the bigger spending bill as they haggle over the specifics of what to include and how to pay for it.
This is critical to the White House, said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N. J. ''. I m optimistic we’ll get it to the floor, but also get the votes.