Biden agenda hangs in the balance as he pitches plan and unity to

On Oct 28, 2021

At a closed-door meeting of House Democrats, Biden is laying out in person long-awaited details of his $1.75 trillion economic and climate package, trying to convince progressives who are skeptical of anything short of a fully written bill and commitments from all 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus to back his framework.

Early indicators suggest that Biden’s pitch will not be enough to satisfy progressives, meaning Biden is on track to leave the country en route to a global climate crisis confab empty-handed. While Democratic negotiations are expected to continue, failing to seal the deal Thursday would be a blow to Biden’s administration as well as for a party eager for a win and to prove to voters it can deliver.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told reporters Thursday morning ahead of the meeting that progressives need certainty and more than just a framework on the social safety net package to be able to support the infrastructure bill.

“I think we need something a little bit more than just something on the back of an envelope,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I think legislative text is one mechanism of us getting there.”

While Biden’s proposal isn’t finalized in its entirety, days of negotiations have brought it to a place where the key elements are all locked in and Biden plans to impress upon Democrats the scope and scale of what those elements represent, even in the face of several Democratic priorities being dropped from the bill in the last several days.

The White House was expected to lay out specifics of the plan later Thursday morning, and even many Democrats remained in the dark about the exact contours of the agreement in the hours ahead of its unveiling.

“The President will speak to the House Democratic Caucus this morning to provide an update about the Build Back Better agenda and the bipartisan infrastructure deal. Before departing for his foreign trip, he will return to the White House and speak to the American people about the path forward for his economic agenda and the next steps to getting it done,” a White House official said.

Biden and Democratic leaders have made clear they want an agreement on the economic and climate package that would clear the way for the House the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that marks the second of the two pieces of Biden’s sweeping domestic agenda.

But House progressives have been explicit that they need to see more than a framework agreement in order to move forward with the infrastructure bill, creating a challenge for any movement unless they move off their position. Not all Democrats have signed off on the framework that Biden will announce Thursday morning, two people familiar with the plan cautioned, but the President believes it’s a consensus all Democrats should be able to support.

One source familiar with progressive thinking told CNN that a loose framework is not likely to be enough to convince progressives to vote for a bipartisan infrastructure…