Schumer tells Senate Democratic caucus they're trying to get text for economic package this afternoon
From CNN's Manu Raju
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Senate Democrat caucus at a virtual meeting that they are trying to get text together for the $1.75 trillion economic package today.
Schumer said the hope is the House will introduce it today, according to a person in the meeting.
Manchin says he needs to see bill's text on framework before taking a position
From CNN's Manu Raju and Ted Barrett
Democratic moderate Sen. Joe Manchin would not address liberal critics who say he has barely compromised while they have moved in his direction substantially.
"I've been dealing in good faith and I will continue to deal in good faith," he said when asked about the lack of compromises.
Manchin was asked to clarify his earlier comments because he had not affirmatively said that he would support the deal.
“We haven’t seen the text yet. Everyone has to see it. I don’t think anybody could say they could support it until they see the text,” he said.
He would not engage when asked about progressives threatening to tank the infrastructure bill because of his lack of support over the larger bill.
"We're working in good faith," he told CNN.
Here's where things stand on Hill negotiations
From CNN's Capitol Hill team
President Biden departed on a flight to Rome, but back on Capitol Hill, crucial negotiations on his domestic agenda continue.
Here's a catchup of where things stand:
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is daring progressives to vote against President Biden this afternoon, saying she will hold a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure package. She wants the bill passed today.
- She warned members not to embarrass the President this afternoon by blocking this measure as he boards Air Force One to Europe and says she will hold the vote open as long as necessary to get the votes.
- At the White House, President Biden says he's within inches of getting a final signoff from Democratic moderate Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
- On the Senate side, Sen. Bernie Sanders seems to be giving progressives some cover, calling the Build Back Better framework the “most consequential bill since the 1960s,” but said clearly to him it has some “major gaps in it.” He also said he thinks that before the House votes on the bipartisan infrastructure framework, House members should have legislative text and “a right to know that 50 US senators are supporting” it.
- Right now, Senate Democrats are holding a virtual meeting to go over the framework.
- Some key problems remain: So far, progressives won't fold. They don't just want a verbal agreement from Sinema and Manchin to back the bill; they want to see the language that Biden outlined that includes all of their priorities. They are also insisting they won't back down. Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told CNN after the caucus meeting that progressives are prepared to block the bipartisan infrastructure bill if it’s not voted in tandem with the economic bill.
- And in the Senate, Manchin and Sinema offered muted responses to the President, neither one pledging openly to support the Democrats-only plan.
- Worth noting: Jayapal did say progressives are willing to work through the weekend for the legislative text for the economic bill to be written so they can vote on it.
Bottom line: It's still unclear how all of this plays out this afternoon and this evening. There is still a lot of horse trading going on and lots of meetings, and we still don't have a time set for the House vote, so there is some wiggle room.
Stay tuned. We have Pelosi's delayed news conference coming up shortly.
Progressive Caucus chair says they'll vote no on infrastructure today unless the economic bill is in tandem
From CNN's Annie Grayer and Daniella Diaz
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told CNN after meeting with the progressive caucus that progressives are prepared to block the bipartisan infrastructure bill if it’s not voted in tandem with the massive economic spending bill.
Jayapal also said that her caucus is planning to vote on a resolution outlining their support for the framework of the economic bill that was release this morning.
Jayapal said she has not spoken to Sen. Bernie Sanders about whether he supports the framework.
But they won’t vote for the infrastructure bill yet. She said they’re willing to work through the weekend for the legislative text for the economic to be written so they can vote on it.
About 102 million Americans left without paid family leave in new framework
From CNN’s Katie Lobosco
Millions of Americans were set to gain paid family and sick leave before President Biden’s proposal to create a federal standard benefit was dropped from his sweeping social safety net package.
About 102 million Americans, or about 77% of workers, don’t currently have access to paid family leave that allows them to take paid time off after becoming a new parent or caring for a seriously ill family member, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
About 29 million people, about 21% or workers, don’t have a single paid sick leave, according to the data.
“The consequences of the loss of this policy at the federal level will disproportionately fall on low-wage workers and women of color who are least likely to have any time off at all,” said Sherry Leiwant, cofounder of the nonprofit A Better Balance that works to advance justice for workers, in a statement.
The paid leave plan’s survival had been in question for several days due to objections from Sen. Joe Manchin, key moderate Democrat from West Virginia. Biden's initial 12-week proposal was scaled back to four weeks in an effort to secure Manchin's support, but it was left completely out of a new framework announced by Biden Thursday.
More background: The United States currently has no federal paid family or sick leave benefit, making it an outlier among developed countries. It is the only nation that does not offer some paid leave to new mothers among the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
In the absence of a federal mandate, many private employers as well as six states and Washington, DC, offer paid family and sick leave. Three more states have passed laws to establish these benefits and are planning to start paying them out over the next few years.
Biden: "Let's get this done"
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
President Biden closed his White House remarks by urging Congress to pass both his economic agenda and the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
"Given half a chance, the American people have never ever ever ever let the country down, so let's get this done," Biden said, while making a final push for the scaled back framework and the bipartisan infrastructure bill ahead of his overseas trip to Europe.
"These bills continue cutting taxes for middle class, for child care, for health care, so much more. Let me close with this. For much too long, working people in this nation in the middle class of this country, have been dealt out of the American deal. It's time to deal them back in," he said.
The President noted how both bills are a cornerstone of what he campaigned on and what people voted him into office for.
Biden continued, "I ran for President saying it was time to reduce the burden on the middle class, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, working people and the middle class. I couldn't have been any clearer from the very moment I announced my candidacy. That's why I wrote these bills in the first place and took them to the people. I campaigned on them, and the American penal spoke. This agenda, the agenda that's in these bills is what 81 million Americans voted for. More people voted than at any time in American history. That's what they voted for. Their voices deserve to be heard or denied or worst ignored," the President said.
These bills "are about betting on America, about believing in America, about believing in the capacity of the American people. If you look at history of the journey of this nation, what becomes crystal clear is this. I'll say it again. Given half a chance, the American people have never ever, ever, ever left the country down, so let's get this done," Biden said.
More background: Despite Biden touting the framework, there is no guarantee Democrats pass the social safety net or the physical infrastructure packages as moderate Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema haven’t explicitly committed to backing the plan and House progressives have made clear they do not want to vote for the infrastructure bill unless the larger bill moves in tandem, and have said a framework is not enough to win their votes.
The President outlined the various investments contained in the framework of his “Build Back Better” agenda, including expanding services for seniors, childcare, expanding the child tax credit, investments in higher education and investments to combat the climate crisis.
He also stressed talking points he has been making for months when pitching these plans, noting the packages are fully paid for, wont raise taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 a year and will reduce the deficit.
CNN's Jason Hoffman contributed reporting to this post.
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