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The White House has been reluctant to abandon talks with Democrats and centrist Republicans, leading a growing number of progressive lawmakers in both houses to decry the slow pace of negotiations. Last week, a few Democratic senators launched warning tweets at the White House, threatening to withhold support for infrastructure bills without provisions on climate change included in the law expected to pass with only Democrats. But Sanders did not join the chorus.
“He focused on building momentum for the reconciliation bill that would be the most important labor legislation that had been enacted since the 1930s,” said one of Sanders’ aides.
The aide added that Sanders is not as concerned as other progressives about leaving their priorities out of the comprehensive infrastructure package because the budget process is just beginning. Sanders believes that strong climate provisions – one of his biggest priorities – will be in the reconciliation bill.
Meanwhile, Sanders, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, told the White House that he believed the bipartisan talks should come to an end, a source familiar with his dealings with the White House said.
The White House is in regular contact with both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sanders about infrastructure priorities, according to a White House official, who described its relationship with Sanders as strong. A Sanders aide also confirmed that the senator is in close contact with the White House and Schumer.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. | Susan Walsh / AP Photo
It has not yet been decided what the final reconciliation package will look like and what committees are responsible for different parts of it. When the bipartisan talks are over — with or without a deal — different factions of Democratic lawmakers will begin to haggle among themselves over the legislative language of the reconciliation package.
Some Democrats are optimistic that their priorities will not be left behind because of Biden’s repeated comments that “inaction” on his entire group — which includes money for elderly care, child care and higher education — is unacceptable. Some progressives are also optimistic that bipartisan talks will fail because they have repeatedly stalled over disagreements over how much to spend and how to pay the narrow bill.
As those talks continued, leading Democrats — from former Vice President Al Gore to John Podesta — pressured Biden to keep climate terms in any eventual package passed. The White House said it plans to do so. On three recent occasions, she cited a lack of climate issues as the reason for rejecting compromise offers from the Republican Party. This included when Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointed out why Biden had cut off talks with Senator Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.)
“Senator Capito reported today that the latest offering from her collection did not, in his view, meet the basic needs of our country to restore our roads and bridges, prepare us for our clean energy future, and create jobs,” Psaki said. On June 8.
Liberals were steaming when Biden nonetheless returned to bipartisan talks with another group of senators. But this time, rather than just Republicans, Senators Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) and Kirsten Senema (D-Arizona) were part of the negotiations — a clear sign that they had yet to be persuaded to support an infrastructure bill or reconciliation package that would to include it. While progressives have pushed Biden to cut off the talks and force the vote, White House allies argue that this is shortsighted.
Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on June 9, 2021 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC | Al Drago Ball / Getty Images
said Ben LaBolt, a former Obama aide and Democratic strategist near the White House. Joe Biden was Barack Obama’s Vice President and would know not to wait for Godot if Republicans did not engage in a bona fide process. But to reach a good legislative outcome, it has always made sense to have both parties involved in the Senate.”
The White House stuck to its strategy, which is to keep trying to strike a deal with the Republicans, but at the same time, press ahead with the bureaucratic imperatives of the Senate if no deal materializes.
“The President strives to make historic infrastructure investments that will generate economic growth, create middle-class jobs, ensure our leadership in clean energy, and enhance our competitiveness in the world,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. “He and his team are engaged in bona fide bipartisan negotiations to achieve this goal, and at the same time see multiple paths forward.”
But anxiety is growing among a growing number of Democratic senators as infrastructure negotiations with Republicans continue.
Senator Ron Wyden (a raw Democrat) was one of several Democrats who warned against ruling out climate policies last week. The clean energy package approved by the Senate Finance Committee in May strengthened the clean energy tax credits and made them conditional on emissions cuts. It is expected to be an essential part of the final package.
A Senate Democratic aide said Wyden would need “firm assurances that reconciliation will move forward with strong climate and clean energy legislation to support moving anything on a separate, bipartisan path.”
The Biden administration says the dual-track approach is exactly what it’s after, but the incremental concern is reaching a boiling point. Progressives argue that the longer it takes to pass infrastructure, the less time Biden will have to focus on other big agenda items. They say voters are waiting for more aid to deal with the economic pressures caused by the pandemic.
“There is no doubt that they are working hard and I do not doubt their good intentions,” MoveON executive director Rahna Epting said of the White House. “Our concern is that the dynamics in Congress are really slowing progress.”
“We are very concerned and need to turn up the heat,” Epting added. “Business as usual is not what people voted for.”
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