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Democrats face growing obstacles to completing BBB before Christmas – and it’s not just Manchin


With less than two weeks to go before the holiday season, Democrats have yet to finalize the legislative text, still in a series of meetings with Senate members about whether the bill complies with Senate rules. House or not and are still negotiating elements of their own bill, with bitter disagreements arising within their ranks over how to handle key provisions.

“I think there are technical and political reasons that they can’t do this next week, but I just think they haven’t come to that conclusion because they can’t afford it,” Sen. John Thune, Republican. whip, told reporters. “They have to keep a hard upper lip.”

Among the most prominently contentious issues is how to deal with state and local tax withholding, commonly referred to as SALT.

The House of Representatives increased the state and local taxes taxpayers can withhold on federal income to $80,000. In the Senate, however, negotiations continue over how to limit what income is eligible to deduct state and local taxes from their federal bills. This is a key issue for Democrats from high-tax states like California, New Jersey and New York. But it became a major messaging problem when Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, argued that millionaires would benefit.

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For weeks, Sanders and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey have been trying to find a middle ground, but sources say they remain at an impasse, with some Democrats seeking to allow the stalemate. Families earning more than $600,000 qualify for the deduction while others, like Sanders, have argued the figure is too high. Sanders has offered Democrats a provision that would allow couples earning up to $400,000 to qualify.

That’s just one of the issues Democrats are still working on and another reason they could easily miss their self-imposed Christmas deadline, as it remains unclear whether the votes for the bill be there or not. Asked if the problem could be the reason for the delay to the new year, Sanders told CNN, “We’ll see.”

“I hope we rebuild a better version as soon as possible,” he said.

Environmental terms

Democrats are also trying to perfect language on methane fees, a key negotiation on climate terms in which Manchin has entered.

Manchin negotiated for weeks with Senate Environment and Works Chairman Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware. Sticking points included when the program started and when it would increase – as well as how much methane companies could emit before paying the Environmental Protection Agency a fee.

Senators are also negotiating how the fee will interact with the EPA’s methane regulations. Carper added $775 million in funding to help oil and gas producers comply with the fee.

On Tuesday, Carper told CNN that the negotiations were almost complete and he was optimistic Manchin would vote on the charge.

“I think most of the hard work has been done, I think we have a good compromise, and my hope and expectation is that we will vote on it as part of a big package. more and it will be accepted,” Carper said.

Schumer still says it can be done

Behind the scenes and publicly, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has forecast unsurpassable optimism about Democrats’ ability to unite and pass the secret bill, with colleagues saying they remain convinced that it is possible to get the job done even when obstacles have piled up.

“Our plan remains to do it by the time we leave,” said Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut. “I got a leadership call this morning and we’re detailing how to get the job done in time by December 25th.”

Some Democrats have even argued that they want to stay in Washington for the rest of the vacation to get it done.

“We’re going to stay here until the job is done,” said Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. “I want to stay until it’s done.”

Technical challenges remain

But it’s not just a matter of willpower or completing a few sticky spots that can slow down the process.

Democrats are also still trying to complete a series of meetings with senator on climate, prescription drugs, immigration and other provisions to ensure that they all adhere to strict rules governing which laws qualify through a special budget process with just 51 votes elected. If anything is scrapped or deemed unworkable, Democrats will need to rewrite their legislation, which could take time.

One of those question marks is whether Democrats need to change their prescription drug pricing provision that passed the House.

In the House bill, Democrats found a compromise that would allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies over certain high-priced prescription drugs. But the Democrats’ plan would also require drug manufacturers to pay reimbursement to the federal government if they raise the prices of many drugs faster than inflation. The discount provision in the House bill would apply to price increases in both Medicare and private insurance plans, including work-based coverage. Republicans have challenged it, with the congressman arguing that extending the rebate provision to commercial health insurance plans has nothing to do with the country’s basic budget, a requirement that uses Special Senate rules allow some bills to pass with just 51 votes.

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Even if the bill is finalized and ready to go public next week, there’s no guarantee the votes will get there.

Manchin has been working closely with President Joe Biden to find direction for the future, but he expressed concern about the timing of the bill and its impact on the economy at a time when the country are facing rising inflation.

Once the bill is passed, senators will also have to endure a lengthy budget vote, a process that will take hours and require dozens of votes on controversial amendments that Republicans will use. used to force Democrats to challenge political positions ahead of the midterm elections next fall.

That process alone could take up to two days, or as long as senators can tolerate.

CNN’s Tami Luhby and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

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