Sen. Bernie Sanders this past week unveiled a proposal to pass a $6 trillion spending package for infrastructure and social programs that even fellow Democrats say is far too expensive.
Sanders, a Vermont independent and socialist, pitched the massive proposal in a closed-door meeting with Democratic members of the Senate Budget Committee, which he leads.
“What we are working on right now is on a budget that builds on the proposals that the president has brought to us,” Sanders told reporters after the meeting.
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President Joe Biden earlier this year sent a $6 trillion budget proposal to Congress that built on his two-part infrastructure and social spending proposals. The plans would pay for crumbling roads, bridges, and waterways and would also fund universal preschool, free community college, paid leave, and green energy initiatives.
Sanders told reporters his spending package would address homelessness, would cut prescription drug prices, and lower the age enrolling in Medicare to 60 while expanding Medicare services. The measure could also wrap in immigration reform, Sanders confirmed.
But Sanders will have difficulty rounding up enough support for such a costly plan to pass, even if Democrats employ a budgetary tactic that would allow them to circumvent an otherwise certain GOP filibuster.
Key centrists, including Jon Tester of Montana, Mark Warner of Virginia, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, have refused to commit to such a high-priced spending plan.
Tester told the Washington Examiner he wouldn’t vote for anywhere near the top-line number Sanders is pitching.
“If we’re going to spend $4 trillion? No,” Tester said. “I think we should do it for as efficient an amount of money possible to solve the problems.”
Warner isn’t on board with the cost of Biden’s proposal. Both Warner and Manchin are concerned that the tax hike is too high, and Manchin cited the plan’s $3 trillion addition to the nation’s deficit as worrisome.
For now, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he’s negotiating two bills.
One measure would provide a $1 trillion infrastructure package that could pass with bipartisan support. So far, 21 Senate lawmakers from both parties are involved in negotiating that package.
A second, larger measure would add liberal wish list items outlined by Sanders and Biden and would be taken up using reconciliation, which allows certain legislation to pass with 51 votes instead of the usual 60.
To pass the larger bill, Democrats will need the support of all 50 party lawmakers.
Centrist Democrats will likely force the spending bill to shrink, and it could lose some critical elements, such as a plan to provide $100 billion in electric vehicle tax credits.
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Manchin told reporters that such a move would give China control over America’s transportation because it controls the supply chain for electric vehicle batteries.
“If we are going to put our transportation modes in the hands of foreign supply chains, that’s crazy,” Manchin said.
