Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

10 hours ago

Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.

14 hours ago

Ukraine Voices Concern as US Halts Some Missile Shipments

14 hours ago

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

15 hours ago

Paramount Settles With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Interview for $16 Million

15 hours ago

Republicans Tee up House Vote on Trump Bill, Outcome Uncertain

15 hours ago

What’s Next for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs After His Sex Trafficking Trial?

15 hours ago

Dalai Lama Says He Will Be Reincarnated, Trust Will Identify Successor

15 hours ago
Manchin Factor, Sinema Enigma Will Shape Dems' $2T Bill in Senate
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
November 26, 2021

Share

WASHINGTON — It took half a year but Democrats have driven President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion package of social and climate initiatives through the House. It gets no easier in the Senate, where painful Republican amendments, restrictive rules, and Joe Manchin lurk.

Facing unbroken GOP opposition, Democrats finally reached agreement among themselves and eased the compromise through the House on Nov. 19. One Democrat voted no in a chamber they control by just three votes.

They’re negotiating further changes for a final version they hope will win approval by Christmas in the 50-50 Senate, where they’ll need every Democratic vote. House passage of the altered bill would still be needed.

The gauntlet they face:

Bright Side for Democrats

Yes, just weeks ago the bill’s price tag was $3.5 trillion over 10 years. It passed the House at around $2 trillion and will likely fall further in the Senate.

And yes, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have already forced their party to constrain the measure’s size and ambition. Manchin, at least, wants to cut still further.

But while they’ve enraged progressives wanting a more robust measure, neither moderate senator has signaled a desire to blow up the party’s top legislative priority. Both have held months of talks with party leaders, suggesting each wants an agreement, though one reflecting their views.

Things can still implode in the Senate, where debate will begin no earlier than the week of Dec. 6. But Democrats retain a strong chance of enacting their plans for spending increases and tax cuts making child care, health coverage, education, and housing more affordable and slowing global warming, largely financed with higher levies on the rich and big companies.

GOP Amendments

Here’s one place where Republicans could cause real problems for Democrats.

After debating the legislation for up to 20 hours, senators can introduce limitless numbers of amendments and force votes with little debate. The so-called “vote-a-rama” can drag through the night.

GOP goals will be twofold. They can force changes weakening the bill by winning over just one Democrat. And they can offer amendments that lose but gain ammunition for next year’s midterm elections by putting Democrats on record against popular-sounding ideas.

The 2,100-page bill offers plenty of targets.

Want to accuse Democrats of driving up gasoline and home-heating prices? Dare them to oppose an amendment blocking new fees on petroleum and natural gas facilities with excessive emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas contributor.

A GOP move to erase the measure’s higher tax deductions for state and local taxes could let them accuse Democrats of protecting the rich, the chief beneficiaries of those deductions. Past Republican tax cuts have prominently helped high-end earners.

Amendments could be designed to portray Democrats as offering federal benefits to immigrants in the U.S. without legal authorization, few of whom qualify for such help. Or Republicans could propose giving parents more authority on school curricula, an issue that helped elect Republican Glenn Youngkin in this month’s Virginia gubernatorial race.

Photo of Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in charge of getting President Biden’s $2 trillion spending package passed for the Democrats. (AP File)

Senate Rules Pesky and Dangerous

Democrats are using a special process that would let them approve the bill by simple majority, not the usual 60 votes that would otherwise let Republicans kill the legislation.

But there’s a price: Its provisions must be driven chiefly by budgetary considerations, not sweeping policy changes. Opponents can ask the chamber’s nonpartisan parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, to decide if a section violates that requirement, and if it does it nearly always falls from the bill.

Democrats’ most imperiled priority might be immigration.

The House bill would let millions of migrants in the U.S. since before 2011 without permanent legal status get permits to live and work in the U.S. for up to 10 years. MacDonough has recently said two previous Democratic immigration proposals violated Senate rules.

Republicans might also challenge some provisions letting the government curb prescription drug prices.

The Manchin Factor

Senate changes to the bill seem inevitable, largely thanks to Manchin, one of Congress’ more conservative Democrats.

He’s already helped force Biden to drop initial plans to create free community college, provide new dental and vision Medicare benefits and to fine energy producers that don’t wean themselves off carbon-heavy fuels. That was the pillar of Biden’s blueprint for combating climate change.

Now Manchin seems poised to force removal of the bill’s four weeks annually of paid, required leave for family and medical reasons. That $200 billion item is prized by progressives.

Manchin, whose state is a top coal producer, frowns on some remaining provisions aimed at spurring a switch to green energy. He’s questioned providing some new benefits without imposing income limits. Along with his repeated expressions of concern about inflation, which some say the measure’s infusion of spending would aggravate, the price tag seems headed downward.

The Sinema Enigma

Sinema helped whittle the package’s costs. She’s blocked Democrats from raising tax rates on wealthy Americans and corporations, proposals many like as potent revenue raisers and symbols of class equity. Democrats found other ways to boost levies on those groups.

But the Arizonan seldom details her demands publicly, making it hard to read her goals moving forward. She recently told Politico that she opposes tax increases that can hurt the economy, but unlike Manchin considers the bill’s environment provisions “its most important part.”

Other Senate Changes

The House raised the current $10,000 yearly cap on allowable state and local tax deductions to $80,000, helping win votes from Democrats in high-tax, mostly blue states.

But nonpartisan outside groups calculate that the change would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., have discussed denying the tax break to the very highest earners.

While the House bill strengthens the government’s ability to curb pharmaceutical prices, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has talked about going further. The House language is a compromise that’s more modest than many Democrats preferred.

The progressive Sanders, Manchin’s ideological opposite, says he’s still trying to “strengthen” the bill on climate change, Medicare, drug prices and taxing the rich.

With Democrats hoping to finally pass the bill, Wyden’s and Sanders’ leverage seems limited.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

House Republicans Say They Expect to Vote Tonight on Trump’s Tax-Cut Bill

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 8,300 Acres, Prompts Evacuations

DON'T MISS

SLO Deputies Fatally Shoot Man in Los Osos Weeks After US Marshal Impersonation Arrest

DON'T MISS

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo County Wildfire Burns More Than 3,000 Acres. No Containment Yet

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Why Is State Lawmaker Taking Aim at Rooftop Solar?

DON'T MISS

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

DON'T MISS

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

DON'T MISS

Del Monte Files for Bankruptcy. Gets Nearly $1B to Keep Producing Through Process

DON'T MISS

Who is Running for Fresno Area Offices in 2026? An Updated Look

UP NEXT

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 8,300 Acres, Prompts Evacuations

UP NEXT

SLO Deputies Fatally Shoot Man in Los Osos Weeks After US Marshal Impersonation Arrest

UP NEXT

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

UP NEXT

San Luis Obispo County Wildfire Burns More Than 3,000 Acres. No Containment Yet

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: Why Is State Lawmaker Taking Aim at Rooftop Solar?

UP NEXT

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

UP NEXT

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

UP NEXT

Del Monte Files for Bankruptcy. Gets Nearly $1B to Keep Producing Through Process

UP NEXT

Who is Running for Fresno Area Offices in 2026? An Updated Look

UP NEXT

CIA Review Finds Flaws but Does Not Dispute Finding Putin Sought to Sway 2016 Vote to Trump

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

8 hours ago

San Luis Obispo County Wildfire Burns More Than 3,000 Acres. No Containment Yet

8 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Why Is State Lawmaker Taking Aim at Rooftop Solar?

9 hours ago

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

9 hours ago

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

9 hours ago

Del Monte Files for Bankruptcy. Gets Nearly $1B to Keep Producing Through Process

10 hours ago

Who is Running for Fresno Area Offices in 2026? An Updated Look

10 hours ago

CIA Review Finds Flaws but Does Not Dispute Finding Putin Sought to Sway 2016 Vote to Trump

10 hours ago

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

10 hours ago

Check Out Newest Downtown Mural. It’s a Spectacular Tribute to Fresno Artisans

11 hours ago

House Republicans Say They Expect to Vote Tonight on Trump’s Tax-Cut Bill

WASHINGTON – Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday struggled to pass President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut...

7 hours ago

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to the press, as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 2, 2025. (Reuters/Annabelle Gordon)
7 hours ago

House Republicans Say They Expect to Vote Tonight on Trump’s Tax-Cut Bill

The Madre Fire in San Luis Obispo County has rapidly expanded to 8,396 acres with no containment, prompting evacuation orders and warnings near New Cuyama. (CalFire)
8 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 8,300 Acres, Prompts Evacuations

Andrew Biscay, 40, was arrested Friday, June 20, 2025, after deputies found him with a fake U.S. Marshal’s badge, homemade firearm, and law enforcement-style gear during a warrant arrest. (Madera County SO)
8 hours ago

SLO Deputies Fatally Shoot Man in Los Osos Weeks After US Marshal Impersonation Arrest

On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, a Madera County sheriff’s deputy was injured while trying to arrest a wanted felon, Felix Adrian Nucamendi Carrasco, 40, who later fled and was captured near Raymond Road. (Madera County SO)
8 hours ago

Madera County Deputy Injured, Wanted Felon Arrested After Violent Struggle

A wildfire dubbed the Madre Fire has burned over 3,300 acres near New Cuyama with 0% containment, officials said Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (CalFire)
8 hours ago

San Luis Obispo County Wildfire Burns More Than 3,000 Acres. No Containment Yet

9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Why Is State Lawmaker Taking Aim at Rooftop Solar?

Jose Luna (left), 33, and Ralph Grajeda, 45, both of Visalia, have been sentenced for their roles in the 2020 shotgun killing of Robert Soto at a local motel. (Tulare County DA)
9 hours ago

Two Visalia Men Sentenced in 2021 Motel Killing

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters File)
9 hours ago

Ex-Jan. 6 Defendant Gets Life in Prison for Plot to Kill FBI Agents

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend