Democrats in the House of Representatives indicated Tuesday that they will not try to revive an expired stimulus program that provided up to $300 a month for every kid to millions of Americans.
“It is my hope and expectation that we are going to be able to arrive at an agreement with the Senate, including Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, around a Build Back Better Act,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries said at a press conference.
There is currently no progress on the sprawling $2 trillion plan in the 50-50 Senate. Last month, West Virginia Senate candidate Joe Manchin announced his opposition to it, and it appears that Democrats are no closer to securing his support and passing the spending plan in the upper chamber against unified Republican opposition. Despite the push for a work requirement on the child tax credit, he said last week he still opposes it, which would isolate the poorest families that don’t have taxable incomes from the child tax credit.
In addition to extending the expanded child tax credit for one year, the package includes universal pre-K, childcare subsidies, and measures to curb climate change. Democrats propose new taxes on corporations and the rich to pay for it.
Democratic lawmakers are likely to face another deadline when President Biden delivers his state of the union address on March 1. The parties are unsure if they will be able to reach an agreement by then.
“I just don’t know,” Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut said to Insider, adding he is unsure of how the bill will develop overall based on the last several months.
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In his conversations with Manchin, Murphy said the conservative Democrat of West Virginia offered his “willingness” to continue negotiations.
Senators are now doubling down on passing voting rights and election administration legislation by January 17 instead of fighting Manchin’s opposition. However, they’re on the verge of another setback since Manchin and Sinema are opposed to destroying the 60-vote filibuster threshold, which requires unanimous support from all Senate Democrats.