Joe Biden will meet with Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema with Dems
U.S. President Joe Biden meets virtually with governors, mayors, and other state and local elected officials to discuss the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, August 11, 2021.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Joe Biden will meet with key Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on Tuesday as he tries to patch up flagging support for his economic plans.
Biden will hold separate talks with the centrists Manchin and Sinema, who represent West Virginia and Arizona, respectively, CNBC and NBC News confirmed.
The huddles come as Democrats in the White House, Senate and House scramble to craft a plan to invest in the social safety net and climate policy that can get through both chambers of Congress. The party’s ability to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill appears to hinge on leaders making progress toward an agreement on the budget reconciliation plan Democrats would pass on their own.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., talks with reporters after a remembrance ceremony on the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Monday, September 13, 2021.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The coming days in Congress will shape the success of Biden’s policy goals as Democrats look to keep control of the legislature in next year’s midterm elections. An array of changes — from tax increases on corporations and the wealthy to expanded child care, paid leave, education and health care — will be on the line as Democrats negotiate in the coming days.
Both Manchin and Sinema have said they would oppose the $3.5 trillion in social safety net spending first proposed by their party. If either of the senators voted against the Democratic bill in the evenly split Senate, it would fail.
They have yet to strike a deal with the White House on an overall price tag they would support. Agreement on a top-line figure would allow lawmakers to write specific pieces of the bill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 28, 2021.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
“In the next day or so, we hope to come to a place where we can all move forward on” the economic plans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Tuesday.
The talks with Manchin and Sinema will in part determine whether Pelosi can thread a needle to keep her full caucus on board with both planks of Biden’s agenda. The California Democrat told her party she would hold a Thursday vote on the infrastructure bill despite threats from progressives to oppose it if the Senate has not moved to pass the reconciliation plan, NBC News reported.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona, listens during a news conference in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, July 28, 2021.
Stefani Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images
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