Congress Must Pass Biden's Agenda

When Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock won their respective senate races in the runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5 of this year, they secured a Democrat trifecta for the first time 2008. By winning a majority in the House, as well as 50 seats and the tie-breaking vice president vote in the Senate, the Democrats have gained the crucial ability to legislate through reconciliation bills, which are able to bypass the filibuster — a procedural rule that requires 60 votes to end debate on a bill. Through reconciliation, Democrats have an opportunity to pass legislation on crucial issues, such as climate change, that would be ignored without the trifecta they now hold.

This optimism for Democrats was short-lived, however, as schisms within the party quickly became evident between more progressive members of the party and moderates such as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). During negotiation on the second reconciliation bill — often referred to as Build Back Better (BBB) — Sinema and Manchin have whittled down the already compromised $3.5 trillion topline to around $1.75 trillion. In doing so, important parts of the bill have been reduced significantly, such as climate provisions and medicare expansions, and some parts have been ditched entirely, such as the ability of the federal government to negotiate drug prices, a move that would help make important drugs cheaper for Americans.

However, not all is lost. The bill still contains around $550 billion planned to go toward combating climate change, paid family leave and universal preschool for every three and four year old child in the United States. This bill would be one of the most influential and critical pieces of legislation ever passed, completely revamping the economy in a way that hasn’t been seen since FDR’s New Deal. While some may still argue this is simply too much spending, every piece of this bill is paid for, utilizing wealth taxes and beefing up the Internal Revenue Service to cover every dollar spent. The key now is ensuring that these provisions remain in the bill and that the numbers don’t shrink any further.

At the same time Democrats have been working on BBB, a bipartisan effort took place to develop a traditional infrastructure package that focuses on things like roads, bridges and trains. Manchin and Sinema, who posed a certain threat to the Democrats’ overarching agenda, were important members in negotiating this bill. Some members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), because of this, had been holding their votes against the bipartisan infrastructure bill as leverage to keep the BBB bill from shrinking any further.

Last week, however, Senate Democrats finally revealed the framework for the reconciliation bill, and members of the CPC say they are prepared to vote for both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and BBB. Though the situation is still developing, it seems that Democrats are all in agreement and are poised to pass this landmark bill. BBB is set to revitalize the American Economy. Supporting it should no longer be an issue of Republican v. Democrat or Progressive v. Moderate but as the recreation of a strong and capable economy that works for the benefit of the people rather than leaving them behind.