BBB Needs A Deadline

Washington, D.C. (October 16, 2021) Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, alongside leaders from across the Federal Government, including President Joe Biden, attends the Annual National Police Officers’ Memorial Service at the U.S. Capitol. (DHS Photo by Benjamin Applebaum)

Recent news headlines have been dominated by inflation, the ever-dangerous coronavirus pandemic, and Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine. These issues have presented Joe Biden with a conflicting set of opportunities. His success at showing leadership and bringing the nation together on Ukraine has been tempered by criticism over his handling of COVID-19 and inflation. On these issues, it is unclear that he will be able to control the narrative or deliver a signature victory. But on one less visible issue, the continued negotiations over his Build Back Better plan, it is certainly possible for Biden to deliver both his party and his country a decisive victory.

The entire Biden administration’s domestic agenda, outside of inflation, is bogged down with the fate of the BBB plan. It has been a stalled part of his agenda for the past year. Liberals still do not know exactly what is in it and which of their priorities has been saved or shelved. The nation could still benefit from some of its policies, especially those regarding child-care or climate change. Furthermore, it is seen as a missed opportunity for a signature legislative win. The American Rescue Plan is in the rearview mirror for many Americans who have spent their stimulus checks and gone back to work. The passage of BBB in an election year would make sure that Biden could show Democratic governance means something to its base, which he absolutely needs to turn out in November. Election returns from Virginia suggest that base turnout may be more important than convincing swing voters this election cycle.

While passing his program is enormously important, Biden also knows that such passage is far from automatic. Earlier COVID-19-related bills had the urgency of massive unemployment and case numbers driving them into law. On the other hand, BBB came about in an era of vaccines, declining case numbers, and a growing reluctance to even consider the impact of the virus on society or the economy. As a result, BBB became a typical congressional bill: carved up by competing factions, obsessed over by lobbyists, studded with poison pills and pet projects that were enormously unpopular and did nothing to aid the progression of the bill.

Most notably, Democrats could not agree to hardly any of recalcitrant senator Joe Manchin’s demands about the bill. Democrats ignored his request to focus on permanent versions of smaller policies and keep inflation and the deficit in mind. He partially blew up negotiations in December because of the overall rejection of his position by the Democratic bill. Chuck Schumer responded with a symbolic push for voting rights and then subsequently allowed the negotiations to wither.

In order to solve the slowdown, there needs to be a manufactured deadline for the bill to pass. Deadlines help Congress push through months of backlogged work in a matter of hours. Congress seems to only function when it is at the eleventh hour and they will face a maximum amount of political pain if they do not get something done. The hours before debt defaults, government shutdowns, and visible funding losses are all sources of remarkable productivity over the past twenty years. Stories abound of representatives huddled in Washington for days and sleeping in their offices in the runup before a key deadline. Democrats need to use this power and attach BBB to the beginning of the summer recess on August 8, a favorite deadline outside of appropriations or the debt ceiling. They need to coordinate an announcement for this plan with Joe Manchin, preferably framing it as the last push to enact the president’s signature legislation.

Prior to that deadline, Democrats need to put together a package that reflects the reality of the nation’s current political landscape. It should appeal to Joe Manchin and be crafted in order to secure his vote. The bill should reflect each of the points Manchin has outlined in the past year as important to his priorities. At the same time, it needs to spend as much money and cover as many areas as Manchin is comfortable with. As noted by Vox earlier this month, “In early March, Manchin effectively put a new offer on the table, saying he’d be willing to consider legislation that focuses on prescription drug prices, tax reforms, and climate investments as long as half the revenue it raises is targeted to paying down the deficit.” Democrats have already begun to move in this direction by framing the bill as a deficit reduction measure as much as any other.

Finally, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer need to prioritize the importance of the bill to the party’s prospects and whip the rest of its members in line. The House is not known for having recalcitrant members of the majority. Pelosi needs to be able to bring in her entire caucus and silence the centrists who murmured about rejecting the bill during the last round of negotiations.

BBB will not secure a Democratic victory in 2022 on its own. The most realistic positive outcome is for Democratic losses to be small and easily recouped in the presidential year election of 2024. But getting BBB done now will provide a victory that Democrats can take home to their constituents. It will also allow Biden to move on to executive orders that he believes will bolster Democrats while also accomplishing as many of his campaign promises as possible. With a newly imposed deadline that all sides believe in, turning this bill into a law may actually become a reality.