Will the U.S. Senate support Biden’s Build Back Better plan? | Politics News

U.S. President Joe Biden campaigned under the slogan “Build Better Better”. Its main platform has been – to help Americans by providing more support in many walks of life – education, subsidized child care and health, lower taxes.

With the overcoming of the US House of Representatives $ 1.75 trillion package on Friday of the same name, Biden is close to implementing a comprehensive plan to implement the largest social assistance law in the United States for more than 50 years.

But the plan faces obstacles in an equally divided U.S. Senate. Republicans unite in their opposition. Democrats must vote for each of their 50 senators.

Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist member of President Biden’s Democratic Party, has not yet spoken out in favor of the package. And Senator Kyrsten Sinema, while endorsing Biden’s plan, has suggested that he is still concerned about the bill in detail in the House.

Biden and the Democratic Party are counting on legislation to be used as the main message of the campaign in the 2022 congressional elections.

The package includes a wide range of social provisions, including free kindergarten education, child support for working families, the extension of subsidized health care and reductions in medication costs.

Importantly for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, the bill seeks to invest about $ 500 billion in clean energy and environmental programs to tackle climate change.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday that the Senate would pass legislation quickly for debate and voting.

“As soon as the necessary technical work and procedure with the Senate MP is completed, the Senate will adopt this legislation,” Schumer said Friday morning.

“We will act as soon as possible to bring this bill to the table of President Biden and provide support to middle-class families,” the Senate leader said.

Senator Manchin has expressed concern that the level of new government spending in the plan could drive higher inflation and create new welfare rights.

Manchin said he is concerned that some climate provisions would affect coal production in the state of West Virginia. Manchin praised the Democrat infrastructure bill signed on Nov. 15 as a “historic” $ 6 billion investment in West Virginia.

Senator Sinema, who has been an advocate for major U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers, said the bill passed by the House does not fully reflect the White House policy framework it backed in October.

The film seeks to see changes in the Medicare drug pricing provisions that pharmaceutical manufacturers have opposed.

The massive legislation shifted from a $ 3.5 trillion benefit that most Democrats benefited to a whopping $ 1.75 trillion, in part to meet the concerns of Manchin and Sinema.

The bill was passed by the House by a vote of 220-213, after the Congressional Budget Office calculated that the tax funding on the bill would raise enough revenue to cover planned expenditures over 10 years. Republicans argued that the bill would increase the U.S. federal deficit.

The CBO estimates that HR 5376, funding for tax enforcement activities provided by the Build Back Better Act, would increase $ 80 billion in spending and revenue by $ 207 billion, thus reducing the deficit by $ 127 billion by 2031. https://t.co/GrbShPusVK

– US CBO (@USCBO) November 18, 2021

The immigration reform provisions in the House bill, including new spending of about $ 100 billion, could remove Senate MPs from the bill under stringent Senate rules banning major policy changes in those budget measures.

Democrats have been forced to advance their agenda by using quick but complicated budget procedures in Congress because they do not have the 60 votes that would otherwise be needed in the Senate to pass major legislation.

The House vote limits internal party clashes between Democrats, weakening public attitudes among Biden voters and lowering their approval ratings. This could cause problems for Democrats who want to maintain a narrow majority in government in Congress.

Democrats in the Senate and House have been working to clarify the differences between the political preferences of committee heads.

Democratic House leaders announced Friday that the legislation would return to the House with acceptable changes to the Senate that would improve legislation.

“At the end of the day, we will have a great bill,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday, expressing confidence that the legislation will be passed in the Senate.

When the Senate acts, the House must approve any changes before sending a bill to President Biden for signature.