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Biden Backs Voting Rights Push With Economic Plan Stalled

Biden Says He Supports Delaying Agenda for Push on Voting Rights

President Joe Biden said he’d back Senate Democrats taking on voting rights legislation if they have the votes as his nearly $2 trillion economic agenda is stalled by intra-party disputes and may be shelved until the new year.

The legislation known as Build Back Better has been held up in part because of objections from West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin to numerous components. With the path forward on that bill potentially blocked, Democrats now are discussing reviving a long-stalled bill to expand voting rights and possibly changing Senate rules to make it more painful for Republicans to use filibusters to block legislation.

Asked if Democrats should turn their attention to voting rights and defer the spending plan until the new year, Biden said only that they should pass voting rights changes if they can.

“If we can get the congressional voting rights done, we should do it. If we can’t, we got to keep going,” he said while surveying storm damage in Kentucky. “There’s nothing domestically more important than voting rights. It’s the single-biggest issue.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had vowed to get Biden’s roughly $2 trillion package of social spending and climate measures through the Senate before lawmakers leave town for their Christmas break. But Democrats on Wednesday were preparing to delay any vote as the bill is still mired by disagreements among Democrats and vetting by the Senate parliamentarian.

But delaying the bill to next year without a hard deadline could sap momentum for the legislation, which Democrats have been working on for much of the year. It is already angering some House progressives, who tried to stall the president’s infrastructure bill until the economic package was certain of passage in the 50-50 Senate, where Manchin is a pivotal vote.

Manchin has repeatedly raised concerns about the cost and impact on the economy of the legislation to carry out the president’s plans for social spending and climate mitigation. He also is objecting to some of the plan’s climate measures. Manchin has been negotiating directly with Biden, but those discussions have been going poorly, according to two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

Manchin told CNN Wednesday that among his objections is a one-year extension of a child tax credit. He said that it hides the true cost and that it should be extended for 10 years, if at all. But that would soak up most the $1.75 trillion maximum he’s set for the legislation and require many other provisions to be dropped or drastically modified.

“The only thing I’m saying is whatever – I’m not in charge so whatever they have to choose, they have to choose. It’s not me,” CNN quoted Manchin as saying.

There was growing sentiment among Democrats to focus on the voting legislation, which was given new urgency following redistricting decisions made by state legislatures. Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders said that needs to be addressed “immediately.”

“I would like to see Build Back Better dealt with as quickly as possible, but if we can’t deal with it right now it’s far more important we deal with the voting rights issue,” Sanders said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, in an interview recorded Wednesday with SiriusXM’s “Signal Boost,” also called for passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.

“One of the most critical battles before us right now is what we must do to protect the integrity of the right to vote,” she said.

However, Republicans previously have blocked action on the Democrats’ voting rights bill in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to advance most legislation. Manchin and Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema both have said they oppose jettisoning the filibuster rule.

Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington State, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, questioned why there should be a choice between the economic package and the voting rights legislation.

“These are both deeply necessary priorities,” Jayapal wrote in a tweet. “Why would we pit them against each other? It’s not Build Back Better or voting rights. It’s BOTH — and it’s time. We can and must deliver.” 

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