As Senate Democrats struggle to get their caucus unified behind the legislation, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham pointed that he considers President Biden’s social spending and climate bill“ dead forever”.
The Build Back Better Act’s costs of roughly $2 trillion and its potential effects on inflation also enticed Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s concerns, a fact that Graham was more than happy to point.
He also quoted Manchin’s promise to the people of West Virginia that he will not vote for a bill that adds to the deficit, reiterating that the bill is doomed already.
The late-stage negotiations within the Democratic Party revolved around the expanded child tax credit, the pandemic-era policy that is given a one-year extension in the bill, but Manchin suggested a multiple-year extension so the proposal’s cost, which would likely be extended in the future by the Congress, is fully reflected in the legislation.
Republicans are hoping that the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) score- the added $3 trillion in deficit spending as Graham claims- will prompt Manchin to delay negotiations for the package.
That score stems from the analysis of the Build Back Better Act should its provisions be made permanent, but the CBO claims the bill would add only $200 billion, according to the House-passed version.
While the White House is objecting to the Graham-requested CBO report, press secretary Jen Psaki has dismissed the CBO score of a version of Build Back Better Act as fake, projecting the cost of the original $3.5T bill without the original tax increases.
In an effort to buck a potential GOP filibuster by only requiring a majority vote for passage, the Senate is looking to pass the bill through budget reconciliation which means that all Democrats must be on board to send it to President Biden’s desk.
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