Democrats decided to delay the $2.2 trillion Social Policy Bill that President Joe Biden presented in a private concession. Things didn’t go too well in negotiations as West Virginia Senator, Joe Manchin, sputtered.
Private conversations between Manchin and Biden didn’t lead to anything worthwhile as the White House officials stated that they failed to resolve vital differences. Also, Democrats leading the charge haven’t completed working on that multifaceted social safety net. Along with that, they are yet to finish the climate and tax package as well.
While many White House aides are still optimistic about the bill passing next year, they are a bit frustrated with the pace of things. Even before the conversation between Manchin and Biden, the administration officials were confident about the agreement being close. But the conversation failed to bring any kind of breakthrough to the situation.
A few administration officials feel that the legislation passed by the House this year will probably slip into place in the upcoming year of 2022. They are predicting it to be around spring.
Party leaders have been backing away quietly from the Christmas deadline, even though the final decisions haven’t come out yet. Democrats were even weighing on prioritizing the legislation for voting rights that the Republican opposition has been stalling on for so long.
But due to the delay in passing the Social Policy Bill, the liberal Democrats became frustrated. They were also aware of the centrist Democrats dashing their ambitions after they shepherded through the bipartisan infrastructure measure.
This is a scenario that a lot of Democrats wanted to avoid, as the result of that could lead to them coming up empty-handed. On the other side, where Republicans united opposing the package, Democrats are having a hard time moving forward in the Senate as they don’t get the support from all the lawmakers who are caucusing with them.
In the brief on Manchin and Biden’s conversation, it came out that the senator proposed eliminating any kind of expanded payment. This can jeopardize any support they are hoping for, from other liberal Democrats.
