Democrats are grinning publicly through the stress. But they also realize that their summer struggle will have a huge impact on the fate of the agenda that Biden was elected to. With the likelihood that halftime next November could undo the party’s hold on Congress, Democrats look forward to an intense surge of activity before Washington is overtaken by another pre-election political paralysis.
A “slow, easy summer,” quipped Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Warning of a to-do list so crowded after Memorial Day that “a full August break is probably unlikely” – a simple one Matter the legislature’s least preferred threat.
Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi is waiting for Biden’s infrastructure plan to be approved on July 4th, though Democrats are starting to suggest the deadline may slip. While the White House is still trying to reach a bipartisan infrastructure deal with the Senate Republicans, some Democrats are beginning to lose patience. The White House’s most recent offer on Friday showed the two parties were about $ 1.5 trillion apart on their tax and spending plans.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also promises to propose an election and ethics bill, named S. 1, by August. The Democrats are still waiting to see if West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin will change course and join the other 49 members of his caucus in support of him. While the legislation is unanimously against the GOP and therefore has no chance of being passed into law at the moment, progressives have long viewed the right to vote as a means of public struggle for the future of the legislative filibuster.
The deadline that seems most daunting is the revision of police laws. Biden had asked Congress to submit a final proposal to him by May 25, the anniversary of George Floyd’s death. While negotiators say they are making progress, talks could continue into the summer as Democrats and Republicans argue over sensitive details like officials’ legal immunity.
“You could do police, p. 1 and infrastructure by July,” said Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.). But he admitted, “It’s a pretty tough act for the Senate.”
Before the end of summer, Democrats must also determine the fate of pandemic unemployment benefits. An additional $ 300 per week in federal unemployment benefits is due to expire by September 6. Even among Moderates Democrats and Liberals, this is likely to be a point of contention over whether to extend aid if vaccinations rise, but the nation continues to see worrying economic indicators. Republicans are not expected to support an extension as the benefits will hamper return to work.
At a personal lunch last month, Schumer warned his caucus that given the tight legislative calendar and the need for the Senate to continue validating Biden’s candidates, Democrats don’t have the luxury of time. While the Senate has upheld almost all of Biden’s cabinet decisions, the chamber is expected to speed up its judicial endorsements soon and further set the schedule.
Legislation in the upper chamber necessarily takes longer, with days of debate and procedural hurdles typical of a final vote. For example, a humble bill addressing the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans took two weeks in the Senate. Another bipartisan proposal by Schumer and Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) To compete with China will take a similar amount of time.
“You can see how long a bill takes with bilateral support,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) Discussing.
“It’s going to be really hard,” warned Murphy. “I think we should be better prepared to work on Fridays and weekends. I think it will be difficult. “
So far this year, the Democrats have already worked through a roughly $ 1.9 trillion pandemic relief package without a single GOP vote, a hard-fought victory in the early weeks of Biden’s tenure. But their pace of work has to get even more dramatic if they hope to rally their party behind another huge bill. And many are already recognizing that their push to infrastructure will have to overcome even more political stumbling blocks than a pandemic response plan, which was seen as far more urgent.
“Time is running out,” said John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), Chairman of the House Budgets Committee, whose committee is tasked with moving the reconciliation process forward if or when Democrats decide to pass a Republican-free infrastructure bill.
The House has already passed some of the party’s top priorities, such as the Voting Rights Act, and plans to devote much of June to spending bills before current state funds expire on September 30th. Next month, Democrats will also have to figure out how to get a budget approved – a political exercise that gets tricky with tight margins – while committee chairs work furiously to compile Biden’s infrastructure plan for a possible vote.
Legislators have to do all of this in a shortened timeframe: the House is expected to meet just five weeks before the August break begins, despite senior Democrats saying it is possible they could add more days to the calendar. The Senate is to remain in session until the first week of August.
“I think realistically we have to start working on important pieces in the second week of June,” said Yarmuth about the backlog of must-pass bills that are supposed to come to the floor. “I don’t think we can wait much longer.”
Some Democrats are already preparing for potentially dire fights with Republicans. If GOP leaders cannot agree to support a bipartisan commission to investigate, for example, the January 6 uprising, Democrats say they are concerned about the fate of divisive policy issues like the debt ceiling.
“If you still greet Donald Trump and extol this big lie, I don’t know what it says about what you will be ready for,” said Rep. Katherine Clarke (D-Mass.), Your Party’s No. 4 House Leader. “If there are obstacles at this level, it is really up to the leadership of your party to decide which side you are on.”
Responding to this attack on the Capitol in January is also a legal issue for members of both parties. The House Democrats have tabled two bills on that front, an independent January 6 investigation and a security funding package to shore up the Capitol and protect members from mounting threats.
So far, the top Republicans have been resistant to both, although Democrats say they are confident that Senate GOP leaders will at least try to get changes to the proposals rather than block them altogether.
Another complication for the time crisis is the tight margins of the Democrats in both the House and Senate, which require their party’s near-unanimous support for lesser-known laws. And gaining that support becomes even more difficult as the most vulnerable members of the Democrats keep their eyes on the rapidly approaching split times.
“People understand we have to find out damn quick,” said Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.), A senior member of the grants committee. If the Democrats can’t finish their to-do list by August, he added, “We’ll have to work twice as hard to get them done before we get out of here at the end of the fall. Because I think things will get a little crazy in a year. ”