President Joe Biden’s massive “Build Back Better” spending plan would have cost American taxpayers $2 trillion, and it would have been the president’s signature moment.
It was a wish list of tax-and-spend Democratic Party priorities.
The keyword: Was.
According to one of Fox News’ top stars, the BBB Act is dead — and it won’t be coming back anytime soon.
Fox News’ Brett Baier said Wednesday that Democrats have abandoned passing the bill before the New Year.
Hearing from multiple sources on the Hill that BBB is definitely shelved for 2021. Looking for public confirmation from leadership. https://t.co/EwuefsOf3R
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) December 15, 2021
Negotiations between Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., went too poorly, a person familiar with the talks said Wednesday.
Democratic leaders had hoped to move the bill through the Senate before Christmas. That isn’t going to happen, insiders say, and the chances of reaching any deal are increasingly bleak.
Manchin told the president he wants to eliminate the measure’s extension of a more generous child tax credit, said the person, who would describe the situation only on condition of anonymity.
Manchin told reporters that assertions he opposes that tax credit were “a lot of bad rumors.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he wants the Senate to approve the 10-year, nearly $2 trillion legislation by Christmas in hopes of using the upcoming holiday to prod Manchin and others to resolve final disputes over the bill. Democrats need all their votes in the 50-50 Senate to advance the legislation, and unresolved disputes with Manchin and other time-consuming hurdles have made it seem increasingly unlikely that senators could even begin debating the bill before the holiday.
Democrats have spent nearly eight months working on the massive spending plan, a top priority for Biden and the party, and have already blown past earlier self-imposed deadlines. Letting work on it slip into next year, when congressional elections will be held, would be an ominous sign about its prospects and would deal a blow to a party bracing for November voting when Republicans are almost certain to win control of the House and Senate.
Many Democrats consider the expanded child tax credit a crucial payout to Democratic voters, and is needed for the legislation’s prospects of moving through the narrowly divided Congress. The measure also has hundreds of billions set aside to spend on health care, universal prekindergarten, and climate change programs.
Schumer has not admitted publically he is planning to delay work on the bill into next year. But the reality is that many obstacles must be cleared before the bill can come to the floor, let alone be approved.
Schumer must reach agreements with Manchin over his demands to curb the legislation’s massive price tag and remove provisions he opposes, such as required paid family leave and some anti-coal tax credits. There are other disputes as well, including how to increase federal tax deductions for state and local taxes.
The Senate’s parliamentarian still has to consider whether many provisions abide by the chamber’s rules and should remain in the legislation. These include a Democratic effort to help millions of illegal immigrants stay in the United States.
Biden and Manchin have spoken by phone about the legislation at least twice this week.
Schumer sidestepped a question by reporters on Tuesday about whether the bill is dead.
“Sen. Manchin’s having good discussions with the president, as I said, and we’re doing all of the things we have to do to get it in play,” Schumer said.
The House approved its version of the legislation in November.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.