President Joe Biden, in a true Jed Bartlet moment, walked into the Capitol building on Friday afternoon in an attempt to rally his party—factioned, unagreeable, and media-hungry—around his $3.5 trillion Build Back Better reconciliation plan. The move came at the end of a week where Congress plunged into an ever-increasing chaotic tizzy over attempts to keep the federal government open and the country from defaulting on its debt obligations.
In a sign of just how tense things have gotten, lawmakers were even asked to relinquish their cell phones during the meeting in an attempt to prevent leaks to the media. During another caucus meeting last night, members of the House continuously leaked information as tensions ran high. At one point, it was even leaked that Congress members had asked their colleagues to stop leaking information. Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia reportedly suggested that the meeting be held in a room meant for reviewing classified information so that it stayed private.
Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon remarked upon exiting the meeting that it was “a private family conversation except for the people who are putting it on Twitter.” Representative Jared Huffman of California was not quite as refined in his statement.
“Far more unity than ‘disarray’ among House Democrats right now, though our caucus meeting today was a master class in eloquent ambiguity. That’s necessary in part because one of our members is live-leaking to [Punchbowl News founder] Jake Sherman because they apparently like the disarray narrative,” he tweeted. “Let me be really clear: I love most of my colleagues, but that particular live-leaker is a schmuck. And a coward.”
But even a visit from the president didn’t appear to soothe tensions or move the needle on a budget agreement. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s in six minutes, six days or six weeks. We’re going to get it done,” Biden said as he exited his meeting, a statement that indicates no deal was immediately reached.
According to sources in the meeting, Biden discussed lowering the topline range of the bill from its original $3.5 trillion to somewhere between $1.9 and $2.1 trillion, a relatively large drop. Senator Joe Manchin, the centrist Democratic holdout from West Virginia, however, has been adamant that he doesn’t want to spend anymore than $1.5 trillion. Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the other holdout, was in her home state today but reportedly spoke with the president over the phone.
House leadership then met after which Democratic House Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that “Good news is forthcoming.”
Later in the evening it was announced that progressive and moderate House Democrats could not come to a solution on linking the reconciliation bill with the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, and that they would vote on a 30-day surface transportation extension plan, which will keep transportation running while Congress continues to fight over the budget, and then go home for the night.
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