| Tell us if you’ve heard this story before: Democrats are unlikely to strike a framework deal on President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda this week as divisions between centrist Democrats and progressives continue to plague negotiations and threaten to derail them entirely. The latest eruption on Capitol Hill emerged on Thursday between Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), two of the most important figures in the ongoing debate who have recently held a number of one-on-one meetings to figure out a path forward in talks. According to Axios, Manchin on Thursday told the Senate Budget Committee chairman that he could live without passing the massive social-spending proposal in its entirety. “I'm comfortable with zero,” Manchin said, using his thumb and index finger to signify “zero.” Multiple Senate Democrats recounted the scene in the report. “Joe said, ‘I'm comfortable with nothing.’ Bernie said, ‘We need to do three-and-a-half (trillion dollars),’” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said of the meeting. “The truth is both of them are in different spots.” Politico: “Bulls---”: How a Manchin-Bernie blowup helped unstick Democrats' agenda. The Wall Street Journal: Democratic voters want Biden’s big spending deal—and they’re getting impatient. The episode exemplifies the issues that have repeatedly held the party back from enacting Biden’s agenda. For weeks, Manchin has said he believes that Democrats should wait until 2022 to pass any bill via reconciliation and instead allow the $1.9 trillion enacted in March in the most recent COVID-19 relief package and the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure package take hold. “This is not going to happen anytime soon, guys,” Manchin told reporters Thursday afternoon. “There’s a lot of work to do, everybody’s working hard, everybody’s communicating, working hard. A lot of meetings going on.” When asked if the talks will drag past today, Manchin added, “I believe so, yes” (The Hill). Hours later, Biden said at a Baltimore town hall event hosted by CNN, “I do think I'll get a deal.” Senate Democrats insist there is progress on a framework agreement, which Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) are seeking. The Associated Press: White House, Dems hurriedly reworking $2 trillion Biden plan. The Hill: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is open to scrapping key components of the Democrats’ spending package. The Washington Post: Democrats brace for cuts to paid leave program as they whittle Biden economic package. The president opened the CNN televised town hall on an optimistic note, saying he thought that Democrats were close to a deal on a tax-and-spending package that would cover many parts of his economic proposals. Biden promised that middle-class families will not have to pay more than 7 percent of their income for child care with his plan to ensure a child tax credit. He also said his original proposal to provide 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for most Americans has been trimmed to four weeks (The Hill). The president described Arizona’s Sinema as “smart as the devil,” and voiced confidence that Manchin would ultimately come around to supporting a major budget bill supported by Democrats. He called the West Virginia moderate a friend. The Washington Post: Biden says Medicare expansion to cover dental, vision and hearing benefits is “a reach.” He blamed Manchin, but talked up a possible fallback voucher option worth $800 for dental costs. Manchin is also opposed to the administration’s proposed clean electricity program, but Biden denied that the entirety of the policy’s aims are gone from the pending framework as negotiations continue. The president also floated his “guess” that gasoline prices will remain high into 2022. “I don’t have a near-term answer,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, arguing that oil producers in the Middle East are to blame. Biden argues the long-term solution is to shift the United States away from petroleum dependency to alternative energy sources. The president also said he would consider deploying National Guard troops to drive trucks to help alleviate U.S. supply chain problems if enough drivers cannot be found to speed the transfer of bottlenecks at key ports and freight warehouses. Biden told the audience that if he supported a push to jettison the Senate filibuster now, he’d lose three much-needed votes for his agenda. He said he generally supports the 60-vote threshold, but would entertain in the future abandoning the filibuster for voting rights legislation, raising the debt ceiling “and maybe more.” Such exemptions would be opposed by filibuster advocates as a slippery slope for Senate rules and tradition. 
© Associated Press The president’s public salesmanship is taking place as Democrats scramble to figure out how to fund a bill with major social policy spending that is expected to have a price tag of around $2 trillion. For months, the White House and Democratic leaders have maintained that the bill will not add to the deficit and debt, but how to fulfill that pledge remains in question. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) opposes a number of proposed tax increases on corporations and the wealthy, a fact Biden acknowledged Thursday night on CNN (Yahoo News). As The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda reports, some lawmakers believe Sinema is ultimately interested in getting to “yes” on an overall deal. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said Thursday after speaking with Sinema that she backs items such as renewable energy incentives, the child tax credit and paid family and medical leave. Sinema appears to be open to alternatives to tax rates to raise revenue. A source familiar with Sinema’s thinking told news outlets Thursday that the senator has agreed to proposals on wealthy individuals, corporations, international and tax enforcement that could raise enough revenue to pay for a package of the size that is currently being discussed. Alexander Bolton, The Hill: Democratic frustration with Sinema rises. Amie Parnes and Morgan Chalfant, The Hill: Democrats brush off political risks of paring down a spending package. CNBC: Jobless claims fall again as enhanced pandemic benefits fade away. The Hill: Which proposals will survive in the Democrats' spending plan? More in Congress: The House on Thursday voted to hold former President Trump’s adviser, Stephen Bannon, in contempt of Congress after Bannon defied a subpoena from the special committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, leaving the Justice Department to weigh whether to try to enforce the will of lawmakers. Nine House Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting to challenge Bannon’s actions (The Hill). The Hill: Here are the 9 Republicans who broke with their party to support the contempt finding. After Pelosi certifies the vote in writing, the criminal referral will be forwarded to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., which will then decide whether to press charges. A conviction could mean up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000. According to legal scholars, in congressional history no criminal charges have been filed in cases in which executive privilege, which Trump is claiming, was asserted (NBC News). Attorney General Merrick Garland, who testified before a combative House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, said the Bannon contempt referral will be decided based “on the facts and the law.” Lawmakers from both parties peppered Garland with a wide range of questions during the oversight hearing, and the attorney general responded that his department is focused on threats of violence against school administrators, teachers, staff, members of Congress and police. "We are worried about that across the board,” he said (CNN). > Republicans’ success in blocking a Senate effort on Wednesday to begin floor debate on Democrats’ Freedom to Vote Act frustrates Black activists and others who view the election reform legislation as among Biden’s most significant campaign pledges. Next steps remain unclear (The Hill). 
© Associated Press | 
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