Congress is now officially adjourned for the remainder of 2021, with the Senate vacating Washington, DC after a series of scheduled votes on December 18. Despite an aggressive attempt by President Joe Biden and House and Senate Democratic Leadership, the President’s signature domestic policy bill - the Build Back Better Act (BBB) - failed to gain the support of all 50 Senate Democrats needed to pass the legislation through budget reconciliation before the end of the year.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), the lone uncommitted Senate democrat who was in negotiations with the White House for several months, has now publicly opposed the nearly $2 trillion spending package in its current form, derailing the end of year initiative.
“My Democratic colleagues in Washington are determined to dramatically reshape our society in a way that leaves our country even more vulnerable to the threats we face,” Manchin said. “I cannot take that risk with a staggering debt of more than $29 trillion and inflation taxes that are real and harmful to every hardworking American at the gasoline pumps, grocery stores and utility bills with no end in sight.”
In addition to Senator Manchin’s distaste of the BBB, there are also many procedural steps senators have yet to go through in vetting the package with the Senate Parliamentarian to ensure the bill complies with the “Byrd rule” that governs which policies can be passed through reconciliation.
The BBB’s setback means, in the near term, that the enhanced child tax credit provisions authorized by the American Rescue Plan, a pandemic-relief law enacted in March of 2021, will expire going into 2022. The provision has provided qualified families up to $300 per month for each child under the age of 6 and $250 per month for each child ages 6 – 17.
While the BBB in its current form seems to be on life support going into the New Year and many Democrats have expressed frustration or disappointment at the delay, most have indicated they still expect to pass the reconciliation bill next year, even if it requires the bill to be paired down even further.