Congress calls it quits for 2021
Key Takeaways
- Manchin pulls plug on Biden/Democratic domestic agenda in Budget Reconciliation Build Back Better (BBB) bill; and Dems need to make sure Manchin stays in their caucus or risk seeing Mitch McConnell as Majority Leader.
- Democrats have hailed BBB as the largest climate bill ever, but Joe Manchin represents a state where coal is critical to the economy. Working in Congress I learned that rule number one is never vote against the core interests of your constituents.
- Manchin joined Democrats to get 40 judges confirmed this year, the most judges since Reagan, while Trump in year one got 18.
- Congress passes $2.5T debt ceiling increase that should carry government until 1Q22, and Defense money $25B more than Biden had requested. Defense bill passed with large bipartisan majorities.
Yesterday West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin put the $1.7T Biden/Democratic domestic agenda out of its misery by giving an unequivocal NO to the Build Back Better (BBB) plan. As Democrats think about their response they would be well served to remember that Joe Manchin is the vote that makes Chuck Schumer rather than Mitch McConnell Leader of the Senate. Progressives and the White House attack Joe Manchin at their own peril.
Joe Manchin was a key negotiator in the $1T infrastructure bill, cast the deciding vote on the Covid Relief measure in March, and perhaps most importantly for progressives has been the 50th vote to get judges confirmed. This week Leader Schumer led a marathon session approving judges. In this first year in office President Trump got 18 federal judges approved; with the action this week President Biden saw 40 of his judges confirmed, the most since Ronald Reagan’s first year in office.
During my days in politics on Capitol Hill the first rule I learned was to know what a core interest for constituents and work to protect those interests. My first job was for my home town Congressman from Cincinnati where GE builds its jet engines for military aircraft. We worked for every fighter jet possible. I was COS for a New Jersey member and we worked to help large Pharma in his district. Just as members of the Texas delegation are notorious for their support of oil and gas, Joe Manchin must be a defender of coal. BBB did not meet that standard for him.
2022 will be a new year. Legislation does not die during the second year of a two-year Congress; this lays open the potential for Senate Democrats and the White House to craft amendments to the House passed bill that can get Manchin on board. It goes without saying that climate initiatives that work against coal need to be on the chopping block.
Debt Ceiling Catastrophe Averted Again
While the year may be ending with acrimony over the Manchin move, in fact last week saw two important measures pass – one where Joe Manchin was the key vote and another with large bipartisan majorities.
Joe Manchin voted as a good Democrat to increase the debt ceiling. The bill that had been considered under the one-time rule permitting a 50 vote filibuster proof vote on a ceiling increase passed needing all 50 Democratic votes. The bill increased the debt ceiling by $2.5T which should carry the government well into 1Q22. This removes a tough vote on the debt ceiling during an election year. It passed in a timely fashion that allowed the Treasury no avoid any missed payments.
The Congress also approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Congress has passed authorization for defense spending each year since 1961. With this year’s harsh partisanship there was concern the bill would fail to pass. With increased tension over the reported military buildup by China, and lessons learned from the withdrawal from Afghanistan, new spending and new priorities were deemed urgent. The final bill increased the Biden’s defense spending request by $25B and it passed the Senate 88 to 11 and the House 363 to 70. The money decisions made in this bill should be reflected in the next government spending bill Congress should pass in February.
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