Joe Biden is considering giving Congress two steps to help Americans suffer: give them the balance of their coveted $ 2,000 coronavirus payments, followed by a $ 3 billion tax and infrastructure package.
Why it matters: Biden is confident he can get several packages through Congress after the Democrats won both Senate elections in Georgia. According to the people familiar with the president, the president’s team also wants to get their hands on cash as quickly as possible.
The whole picture: In July, Biden expanded its Build Back Better plan, which includes billions of dollars for caregivers, incentives for manufacturers and about $ 4 billion for green work and infrastructure spending.
- He proposed paying for this plan with a series of tax increases on the rich, including taxing capital gains as ordinary income and raising the marginal tax rate for top earners to nearly 40%.
Democrats are worried that if they miss early opportunities to combat COVID and reverse its broader effect on the economy, the twin problems could paralyze the rest of Biden’s presidency.
- The first bite would take place in the form of $ 1,400 payments that would be added to the $ 600 cash that Congress approved last month. Funds for state and local aid, as well as funding for the distribution of vaccines, are also included in this quick package.
- Biden’s pursuit of a tax and infrastructure plan, which is part of its ‘Build Back Better’ program, will move later in the spring and be considered under budget reconciliation rules.
- They allow the Senate to take measures by a simple majority, instead of a more challenging 60 votes against a filibuster.
Return to Plan A: Biden is dusting off his plans before the election, when many of his economic and political advisers assumed that if he became president, he would take the Senate with him.
- These ambitions were called into question when Republicans were strong in the Senate on election day and the Democrats’ only hope of regaining the majority was if they were to win the two up-and-coming elections held on Tuesday.
Be smart: Biden’s blitz for a swift spending measure could enable him to build goodwill with Senate Republicans in the spring for a larger package, especially if it includes the liability protection the IDP wants for businesses that fear for coronavirus lawsuits.
- It will also be an early test of how cooperative Republicans of the Senate will be as a minority party.