Schumer warns Dems will go it alone on Biden's $4T tax and spending proposal

Democrats, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are ready to pass President Biden's nearly $4 trillion tax and spending plans with or without Republican support.

Although the White House is still negotiating with a group of Republican lawmakers on their proposed $568 billion infrastructure bill, which is a counteroffer to Biden's $2.25 trillion plan, Democrats have indicated that they are willing to go it alone. The pressure on the bipartisan talks has increased this week, following the release of Biden's second major economic proposal, worth approximately $1.8 trillion.

Democrats are now discussing using the budget reconciliation procedure to pass the spending and tax increases with the Senate's smallest possible 50-50 majority. In March, the party used reconciliation to pass Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan with no Republican votes.

"Of course, reconciliation is an option," Schumer said during a press conference on Wednesday. "We hope to accomplish as much as we can in a bipartisan manner. The primary goal, however, is a large, bold plan along the lines of what President Biden has proposed."

The convoluted Senate procedure allows Democrats to avoid the 60-vote filibuster and advance budget-related legislation with their 50 seats, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking any ties. Without reconciliation, which can be used on specific tax, spending, and debt limit bills, Democrats would need the support of at least ten Republicans.

Still, there are restrictions on what legislation can be reconciled and how frequently the process can be used – the consensus on Capitol Hill was that Democrats could only use the mechanism once more before the 2022 midterm elections.

Schumer aides recently argued that Section 304 of the Congressional Budget Act gives them the authority to pass legislation through reconciliation a third time this year, despite the fact that the process is only technically permitted once per fiscal year, citing language that says "the two Houses may adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget which revises or reaffirms the concurrent resolution."

According to a Schumer spokesperson, the Senate parliamentarian, a nonpartisan referee, approved the theory in early April, ruling that Democrats can recycle the fiscal 2021 budget resolution to use reconciliation for the second time this year.

"We have no choice but to proceed," Schumer said on Wednesday.

With such narrow majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats will need almost every member of their party's support to push the bill through.

Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia who has emerged as one of the most powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill, has indicated that he would like at least some of the legislation to be bipartisan. Manchin has also slammed the brakes on other aspects of the tax and spending plans, claiming that Biden's proposal to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% is too high.

There are additional complications: Some blue-state Democrats have threatened to withdraw their support for any tax-code changes unless Biden supports repealing the Trump-era $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.

However, Biden retained the deduction limit in both the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan, potentially jeopardizing the passage of both bills.

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