President Joe Biden addresses the nation after the White House signaled Thursday it reached an agreement with centrist holdouts Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin over the $1.75 trillion framework.
Despite controlling the White House and both branches of Congress, Democrats have struggled to cobble support for the president’s agenda. With the Senate divided 50-50, Sinema and Manchin are crucial “yes” votes to advance the social welfare spending package and the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which has already passed the Senate and awaits approval from the House.
The $1.75 trillion proposal — which includes child tax and earned income credits, higher education and workforce investments, and a Medicare expansion, among other provisions — represents a significant haircut from the Left’s original $3.5 trillion estimate. It is unclear whether more liberal members of Congress, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, will support the new proposal given its abandonment of some of their preferred initiatives, including paid family leave.
