Biden’s domestic agenda hangs by a thread as Democrats go to war

President Joe Biden’s domestic policy agenda is hanging by a thread amid divides among Democrats and procedure in the Senate.

It’s a big shift for a president who just two months ago looked like he was on the precipice of passing massive legislation. After his predecessor’s attempts at passing a massive infrastructure programme became a meme, the Senate passed a massive bill with 17 Republican votes.

It was part of a two-pronged approach in which the bipartisan bill would pass alongside a $3.5 trillion bill including progressive priorities such as paid family leave, home and community-based care for elderly and disabled people, tuition-free community college and adding dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare.

Democrats wanted to pass the latter using a special process called budget reconciliation that would allow them to sidestep a filibuster from Republicans and pass the bill with 51 votes – as long as it is related to the budget or spending.

Initially, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not pass the Senate-approved bill without a budget reconciliation bill. But after some moderate Democrats indicated that they wanted to pass the bipartisan bill, including publishing an op-ed in The Washington Post, Ms Pelosi pledged that the Senate bill would have a vote by 27 September.

But as the deadline approaches for the Senate bill’s vote, Democrats are still divided. The president hosted two meetings with different groups of Democrats to bridge the divide, one with some moderates such as Rep Stephanie Murphy of Florida and a second meeting with progressive Democrats, along with meeting with Ms Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Rep Pramila Jayapal, chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Mr Biden asked for the meeting after seeing her on television.

“We definitely need his leadership because this is his agenda,” Ms Jayapal told The Independent before her meeting with Mr Biden. “It’s what he outlined for the American people and we do need his leadership and I’m hopeful that he can provide it.”

Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, an ally of Ms Jayapal, said she was confident her colleagues could make the case.

“I have a lot of faith in my colleagues,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who was not part of the meeting, said. “I think ultimately, the thing that’s important is, I would argue our agenda is his agenda.”

But after her meeting with Mr Biden, Ms Murphy said her expectation is that we will have the infrastructure vote on Monday and said focusing on the topline numbers was misplaced.

“You can have a large bill that can have a lot of bad stuff in it and a small bill with a lot of good stuff in it,” she said.

“I will say that I think there is a common sense that we want to be able to pass both an infrastructure bill and a reconciliation bill as both are part of his agenda,” she said. But she said it was one of the first conversations had about the subject.

“I’m not sure we’re at a place of closing just yet,” she said.

Rep Cheri Bustos, a moderate Democrat from Illinois in a district that voted for Donald Trump, said that she was confident there would be a consensus and said she’d vote for one bill before the other in whatever order the leadership brings it in, adding that the bipartisan bill will be presented exactly as the Senate sent it over.

“I will support that,” said Ms Bustos, who is retiring at the end of this term, adding at the reconciliation bill is still up in the air. “Whatever the price tag is, we know it’s not going to go over $3.5 trillion.”

But the divide between liberals and progressives isn’t the only impediment to Biden’s agenda. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will oppose raising the debt limit, which reduces the options Democrats have to avoid the United States defaulting on its debt.

Furthermore, efforts for police reform essentially died a year after police in Minnesota killed George Floyd and the president has pledged to change how the country deals with criminal justice. The Wall Street Journal reported that Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Democratic Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey and Democratic Rep Karen Bass of California were unable to reach a compromise.

Mr Biden lamented the standstill.

“Regrettably, Senate Republicans rejected enacting modest reforms, which even the previous president had supported, while refusing to take action on key issues that many in law enforcement were willing to address,” he said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Still, some Democrats are optimistic about their prospects.

“Never bet against the Speaker,” Rep Sara Jacobs, a freshman Democrat from California, told The Independent.