If the Republicans want to join us, great. Democrats argue that Republicans can vote for budget reconciliation. If Republicans don’t like the plan, they can keep talking to the White House, but the underlying conclusion of the Monday night meeting, and all the messages from the White House in the days before, is that the president is just willing to negotiate so much. The Republican proposal of $ 618 billion without state and local funding is not going to cut it. Period.
Bottom line: President Joe Biden has the House. Biden has the Senate. It has a procedural process that gives you the opportunity to pass a $ 1.9 trillion relief package with just Democratic votes, and conveniently, it’s a process Republicans used just four years ago to jam a tax plan and try to repeal Obamacare.
We’ll look at the second point, but when it comes to giving people direct checks, expanding unemployment insurance, giving people more money to buy food, and raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, these are not unpopular ideas. . Democratic advisers tell CNN over and over again that this is not repealing Obamacare. They are giving something to the people, not taking something away, and that encourages members to act quickly and decisively and not give in to talk that they have to unify the country by incorporating Republicans with a plan.
That does not mean that the impact this may have on the debt and deficit is not real. That doesn’t mean that Republicans aren’t going to argue that this plan isn’t necessary. It is true that there are still billions of the latest package that have not walked out the door. Many Republicans argue that it is irresponsible to spend more when you don’t even know what you need. Those are arguments that you can present to the public. But the Democrats are confident they can win that public fight.
A little mechanics
A Democratic aide familiar with the Senate process told CNN that the plan is for the House and Senate committees to work in coordination over the next week and a half to craft legislative text. Throughout the writing, the Democrats in the Senate will consult with the Senate MP to make sure their plans are actually allowed under the rules governing reconciliation. The House will vote to approve the plan first. Then the Senate will move.
Before the Senate goes to the room, they will participate in multiple meetings with the Republican Senate staff and the Senate MP on the merits of each provision they want to include and whether the provisions meet the strict rules of what can be allowed through the reconciliation. The fight for the minimum wage is expected to be massive here, but there will be others as well. This process happens in private during several meetings, but it is crucial in determining the scope of what Democrats can do.
The goal is to finish and have the bill become law by March 14, this aide to the Senate told CNN. That gives lawmakers some time to pass this before unemployment benefits run out at the end of March.
It’s a huge undertaking, but the Democrats aren’t working from scratch here. They’re going to take Biden’s $ 1.9 billion plan and turn it into a bill. Much of the initial work has already been done to make sure each committee has the amount of money they need to make this plan a reality. The House and Senate budgets gave reconciliation instructions to 12 and 11 committees respectively. That’s a lot. It’s going to be a disaster. Attendees say they are very clear about what to do here and are confident that this can be done quickly.
Still, there will be some schisms within the party on what this bill ultimately looks like. Not all Democrats are comfortable with raising the minimum wage to $ 15, for example. In New York, that amount might make sense. In Montana and West Virginia, where the cost of living is much lower, that kind of minimum wage could be the difference between a business remaining profitable and not. That’s why some Democrats argue that any increase in the minimum wage should be regional, while others argue that it should be phased in.
A reminder: TThe twists and turns of reconciliation will be innumerable. This process is complicated, cumbersome, and will force Democrats to go through a complicated negotiation and stick together in a way they haven’t had to do in recent years. Add further the fact that Biden has vowed to continue speaking with Republicans throughout this process and the reality that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer cannot lose a single member of his caucus and is It’s fair to say that Democrats have to operate very closely. perfectly to carry out all this in the middle of March. Passing the budget resolution is the easy part. Bring everyone to the other side of this process without a massive internal backlash? That is much more difficult.
On Power Sharing: Why Democrats Still Don’t Control Committees
The organizational resolution has not yet been approved.
That’s the same organizational resolution that was delayed for more than a week over a disagreement over whether Democrats had to promise in writing that they wouldn’t blow up filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he had finished delaying that process after two Democratic senators said on the record that they had no plans to vote to remove obstructionism anytime soon.
But the talks have dragged on. They have been productive. They are close to an agreement, but have dragged on among the staff. The initial fight over filibuster delayed important talks about other weed and procedural negotiations. The hope and expectation was that the deal would look very similar to the 2001 power sharing deal, but that 2001 deal only lasted a few months and there were some operational changes that needed to be made. It’s taking time, maybe even longer than it should, but attendees say they’re close. It could be finished as early as Tuesday.
The problem is that we are now seeing some real effects of what that means for the way the Senate is run. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who technically remains the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Monday night that he would not allow a hearing on Biden’s Attorney General candidate Merrick Garland, the Feb. 8 because he argued that those confirmation hearings for attorney general are typically two days. The Senate impeachment begins on February 9. Once again, attendees say the party leaders are close. We’ll see if this is fixed on Tuesday.
Keep an eye on the republicans
The Republican civil war continues Tuesday morning.
We are looking at whether House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy finally meets with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene Tuesday night and whether he fires her from her committees or waits for House Democrats to make that move.
House Democrats are scheduled to hold a Rules Committee meeting on a resolution to remove it from Budget and Education on Wednesday. A reminder that just because they pass the Rules panel resolution doesn’t mean you have to come to the room. It is designed to be safe to force McCarthy to act.
House Democrats will have a conference call at 9 am ET on Wednesday where this issue could come up. There is growing concern that forcing Greene out of committees by a plenary vote could set a dangerous precedent for the future if Republicans win back the House and then use the measure to oust Democrats who don’t like their committee assignments. Usually this is a call from leadership. Giving a vote to the full House is extremely unusual.
Also available for Wednesday is the Republican conference meeting, which is expected to take place in person and will likely be a forum where House Republicans can finally discuss the future of Rep. Liz Cheney. Aides tell CNN that Cheney has been making calls and listening to members of his conference for several weeks since he voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection on January 6. The juxtaposition here is stark. Republicans calling for a member of their leadership to be removed for voting on impeachment, while many members have been silent on Greene’s actions and words. If you wanted to know if Republicans have turned away from Trump, the only evidence you need is that dichotomy. The short answer: they haven’t.
