Senate Democratic Whip Richard J. Durbin signaled Thursday that Democrats plan to revisit the party’s sprawling $2.2 trillion social safety net and climate spending bill — initially slated for an aspirational pre-Christmas vote — in January.
The Illinois Democrat deferred to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer to make any official announcements about the schedule, but nonetheless confirmed the realistic possibility of a reconciliation vote this month had evaporated.
“I’m truly disappointed. We had more than ample opportunity to reach … a Democratic agreement,” Durbin said. “We missed that opportunity, but I’m not giving up.”
The reasons for the delay include party disagreements over provisions like relief from a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions and opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W. Va., to the general structure and cost of the package.
There are also many procedural steps senators have yet to go through in vetting the package with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to ensure it complies with the “Byrd rule” that governs which policies can be passed through reconciliation.
“There is a practical side to this, but it isn’t as if everyone had agreed in principle to move forward with a certain package,” Durbin said. “There were still unresolved issues.”
Durbin, who also chairs the Judiciary Committee, said the delay will allow more time for MacDonough to review the reconciliation measure and determine whether its immigration provisions — considered among the most vulnerable to a Byrd rule challenge — comply with Senate rules.
“We were still waiting for a report from the parliamentarian, and that was an important step. So, now we’ll have the time to complete that report and hopefully we can return to the subject in January,” he said, referring to the immigration provisions.
Durbin added that enshrining protections for undocumented immigrants in the reconciliation bill, which can pass with a filibuster-proof majority, remains a key priority for him.
“I am focused on that as one of the major concerns in this reconciliation bill,” he said, noting the Judiciary Committee had submitted three different immigration proposals to the parliamentarian. “We are doing our best, making a good faith effort.”
Durbin said the Judiciary Committee won’t publicly release new text for its portion of the reconciliation package until the parliamentarian finishes her review of the immigration language. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee is the only other panel among the 12 with reconciliation instructions that has yet to release updated language.
Durbin alluded to the fact that MacDonough is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer when discussing the delay.
“She has extraordinary personal circumstances, and I don’t hold it against anyone,” he said.
Lingering disputes
Schumer has been saying for weeks he hopes to advance the tax and spending package before Congress leaves for its December break. But Manchin has repeatedly signaled he isn’t comfortable with various elements of the package, casting doubt on whether Democrats have the 50 votes they need to proceed.
On Wednesday, Schumer started to remove the pre-Christmas timeline from his floor remarks about the chamber’s agenda. On Thursday morning, the New York Democrat would only say that his caucus would “continue working to bring the Senate to a position where we can move forward on Build Back Better.”
Manchin opposes including four weeks of paid family and medical leave in the package, for example. He’s also raised fresh concerns about the long-term costs of extending the enhanced child tax credit that Democrats enacted in their March coronavirus relief law to help reduce childhood poverty by giving families monthly checks of up to $300 per child.
The expanded version of the credit is set to expire at the end of December and the IRS sent out the last monthly checks, absent congressional action, on Wednesday. Durbin said he did not know if there would be an effort to pass a standalone extension before Congress leaves for the year.
“I don’t know where that stands, but I can tell you the level of emotion in our caucus on that child tax credit is very high,” Durbin said.
[Child credit backers look to workarounds if budget bill stalls]
Manchin has also expressed concern with the way Democrats structured the package, with some programs lasting a couple years instead of the length of the 10-year budget window.
Senate Budget ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., sought to sway Manchin against the package late last week when he highlighted a score from the Congressional Budget Office showing that if programs in the package were made permanent it would cost trillions more than if they sunset.
Democrats, including Schumer, have rejected the CBO score as inaccurate, saying that if Democrats were to extend the length of programs in future bills they would find ways to pay for that spending.
Delaying the reconciliation package could give Democrats more time to advance other legislation before breaking for the winter recess, though timing of voting rights legislation is uncertain.
Schumer said Thursday morning that conversations about two voting rights and election overhaul bills, which could head to the floor ahead of the climate and social spending package, were “ongoing.”
He wouldn’t commit to bringing those bills to the floor either. The Democratic caucus would likely need to change Senate rules to carve out an exemption from the chamber’s filibuster rules, which would require the support of all 50 senators on their side.
“In state after state Republican-led legislatures are approving the most draconian voter registration that we’ve seen since segregation and they’re doing it on an entirely partisan basis,” Schumer said. “Part of that conversation involves finding ways to restore the Senate so it can once again work as it’s supposed to, as it worked for generations before the gridlock of the past decades or so.”
[Momentum grows for Senate to take up voting rights ahead of budget package]
Senate Democrats are scheduled to hold a caucus lunch later Thursday, where they are expected to discuss the schedule.
The chamber also has a large slate of executive and judicial branch nominations to work through, and Senate Minority Whip John Thune said he’s gotten indications of an imminent deal to break the logjam and confirm a number of nominees either Thursday night or Friday morning.
“So you won’t be here on the weekend if that’s any consolation,” Thune told reporters.
The South Dakota Republican said Wednesday there was little reason for senators to remain in Washington once the “must-pass” items, like the annual defense authorization bill, were dealt with. On Thursday, Thune said that likely means reconciliation is “not happening” until next year at the earliest.
“They’ve given up on that,” Thune said. “They don’t have the votes for it, not before the holiday. So that’ll be a next-year exercise or, in our view, hopefully not ever.”
Republican leaders seemed gleeful at the prospect of a Democratic punt until next year.
“Yesterday we got indications that the far left’s slapdash sprint may be hitting the pause button. Well, that would certainly be great news for the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor Thursday. “The best Christmas gift Washington could give working families would be putting this bad bill on ice.”
David Lerman contributed to this report.
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