Sen. Bernie Sanders isn’t happy with President Joe Biden’s spending outline, though he’s not pledging to vote against it.
The socialist independent senator, who caucuses with Senate Democrats, said Thursday after the White House outlined a framework for a $1.75 trillion deal on its social spending package that the deal could be “better.” Sanders, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate and avatar of its far-left flank, also said the House shouldn’t vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill until they have a commitment from all 50 Senate Democrats to support the social spending bill that makes up key portions of Biden’s domestic agenda.
After centrist and far-left Democrats were unable to come to an agreement after weeks of negotiations over a $3.5 trillion bill, Biden unveiled a proposal slashed in half that cut Democratic priorities, including 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.
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Biden on Thursday traveled to the Capitol before his departure for Europe to tell congressional Democrats that he needs their support for the $1.75 trillion plan.
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week,” Biden said.
Progressives have long held that they will not support the infrastructure bill unless there is a corresponding vote on the social spending bill.
After the slashed framework was unveiled, Sanders told reporters at the Capitol that “I think that the House should not be voting for infrastructure bill.”
“Unless they see very clear language and know that there are 50 senators on board, whatever the agreement may be, that’s No. 1,” Sanders said.
Sanders said that the framework “goes a very long way to protecting the needs of working people, the elderly, children, the sick and the poor, and obviously, it does pop on more than ever before in terms of dealing with climate.” But Sanders added he has “some serious concerns about what is not in the bill.”
“For years, we have been talking about lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and that is not in the bill at all,” Sanders said, adding he’s glad hearing aids were part of the expansion of Medicare, but disappointed that vision and dental were not included, as well as paid leave.
“So what I would say is, you have the outline of a very significant piece of legislation, I want to see it made better,” he said.
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West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat who objected to the size and scope of the $3.5 trillion package, told reporters that the deal is “in the hands of the House.”
In remarks from the White House Thursday, Biden said, “no one got everything they wanted, including me.”
“But that’s what compromise is,” Biden said. “That’s consensus.”
