| President Biden took his sale of the Build Back Better agenda on the road on Wednesday as congressional Democrats push to strike a deal on the social spending package by the end of the week amid continuing questions surrounding how to pay for it. Biden on Wednesday appeared in his hometown of Scranton, Pa. to sell the blueprint’s planned overhaul of health care, climate, education and tax policy, having argued that Democrats are in a good spot to get it over the finish line despite the up-and-down nature of talks. He also seemed to acknowledge that the size of the legislation will be scaled back in order to get a deal done. “This has been declared dead on arrival from the moment I introduced it, but I think we’re going to surprise them because I think people are beginning to figure out what’s at stake,” Biden said at Scranton’s Electric City Trolley Museum. “These bills are about competitiveness versus complacency” (The Associated Press). The Philadelphia Inquirer: Back home in Scranton on Wednesday, Biden plugged a scaled-back, $2 trillion plan to revive the country. The Hill: Biden champions economic plan as Democrats scale back ambitions. However, Biden’s optimism comes as yet another stumbling block has appeared before legislators. According to The Wall Street Journal, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) has told lobbyists that she opposes the Democratic effort to raise marginal rates for businesses, high-income individuals or capital gains, forcing negotiators back to the drawing board to figure out how to fund the multi trillion-dollar package. The current iteration of the reconciliation bill is likely to cost around $2 trillion over a decade, meaning that the lack of tax increases creates a massive void for Democrats hoping to fully fund the proposal. As the Journal notes, the House’s corporate tax increase was expected to raise $540 billion, while hikes on ordinary income and capital gains would bring in nearly $300 billion. In its place, Biden administration officials are floating a form of a wealth tax as a substitute, not dissimilar from a proposal long supported by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) (The Washington Post). Niall Stanage: The Memo: Cuts to big bill vex Democrats. The Washington Post: What does Sinema want in Democrats’ social spending bill? Here’s what we know, from a total price tag, to proposed tax hikes, to program specifics. The New York Times: The Democrats have a lot of cutting to do. Politico: Dems toil to save SALT following last-minute scare. 
© Getty Images Nevertheless, Democrats remained optimistic about their chances of striking a deal by week’s end. “I think it’s very possible,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters on Wednesday morning after a meeting with her Democratic colleagues, their first since the beginning of the month (The Washington Post). As The Hill’s Mike Lillis notes, despite months of negotiations that have pitted almost every side against each other at some point, lawmakers are sensing that they are on the precipice of a breakthrough. In particular, Democrats have praised Biden's new assertiveness in the process as they seem set on scaling back the largesse of the package in exchange for putting a W on the board. “The president is being very clear about the direction we’re going in, where he wants to go, and it’s that kind of leadership that’s going to get us to the finish line,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), a liberal who met with Biden this week. Alexander Bolton, The Hill: Under pressure, Democrats cut back spending. The Washington Post: Biden abruptly accelerates his involvement in agenda talks. The Hill: Proposals to reform supports for parents face chopping block. The Hill: Powerful Democrats push back on one-year extension of child tax credit. Elsewhere in the upper chamber, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) made it abundantly clear that he has no intention of ditching the Democratic Party after a report indicated that he has floated the possibility. “Bulls---,” Manchin told reporters shortly after the report emerged. “I have no control over the rumors” (The Hill). Manchin in 2019 said Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has tried to get him to become a Republican "many times." He said it could never happen because of where he stands on taxes and health care. The same year, Manchin endorsed Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) for reelection. The Hill: Democrats look for plan B on filibuster. Peter Sullivan, The Hill: Democrats jostle over health care priorities for scaled-back package. More in Congress: The feud between Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) (pictured below) and former President Trump has intensified as she has become the most prominent anti-Trump voice in the party; Democrats are praising Cheney, who faces a tough primary next year. She said she now believes the 45th president was “personally involved” in the planning and execution of the Capitol riot that led to five deaths and dozens of injured police officers, The Hill’s Scott Wong reports. The House will vote today on whether to hold former Trump strategist Stephen Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress for not complying with a subpoena from the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Separate from debates about executive privilege and enforcing the will of Congress, the committee’s probe puts a spotlight on the central role Bannon may have played in organizing rally goers and any coordination he may have had with the Trump White House and the former president as Trump sought to challenge the Electoral College certification of Biden as president-elect (The Hill). ![Rep. Liz Cheney [R-WY] speaks as the US congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack at the Capitol](https://thehill.com/sites/default/files/newsletter-cheney_102121getty.jpg)
© Getty Images More headlines: Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked Democrats’ Freedom to Vote election reform bill. With a vote of 49-51, the measure fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. Next steps by Democrats are unclear (The Hill). … Rahm Emanuel, nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Japan, faced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday amid objections to his confirmation by some Democrats over his handling while mayor of Chicago of the police killing of a Black teenager in 2014. Emanuel responded to questions about his response to the killing and said if confirmed, he would use the diplomatic post in Japan to counter China (The New York Times). … With major legislation slowly moving through Washington in 2021, K Street lobby firms reaped many millions of dollars during the first three quarters of the year (The Hill). | 
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