Joe Biden to dump half of his $4.8 trillion climate plan

The US President has conceded that his signature bill on social care and climate change could be almost cut in half.

Joe Biden tours the International Union of Operating Engineers training centre in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

President Joe Biden has conceded that his signature bill on social care and climate change could be almost cut in half as he sought to unite warring factions of his Democratic Party and salvage his domestic agenda.

In a virtual meeting with left-wing Democrats late on Monday, the President said the budget for his landmark $US3.5 trillion ($4.8 trillion) Build Back Better project could be slashed to just $US1.9 trillion to appease two moderate senators.

Mr Biden’s plan, touted as a historic investment in America to rank alongside Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, is now set to be trimmed back.

As the brinkmanship within his own party deepens, Mr Biden is also locked in a standoff with Republicans over how to raise the US debt ceiling, risking a catastrophic default in a matter of days that could plunge America into recession.

In his call with left-wing Democrats, Mr Biden acknowledged that Build Back Better would be pared back to bring senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema onside. The two Democrats, who represent West Virginia and Arizona, Republican-leaning states, have blocked the bill in its present form. With the Senate split 50-50, Mr Biden needs both to pass the bill in congress.

Left-wing Democrats have threatened to retaliate to any reduction in the package by bringing down a separate bill proposing to invest $US1.2 trillion in America’s crumbling infrastructure, forcing the White House to delay a vote on that package last week.

The call on Monday offered hope of a breakthrough, however, with Democrats resigned to the cuts to get Mr Biden’s package through, rather than risk squandering a historic opportunity while the party has control of both houses of congress.

“Something is better than nothing,” one Democrat official told CNN after the meeting.

Pramila Jayapal, a representative for Seattle who heads the left-wing Democrat faction, thanked the President for his “leadership” after the call, and issued a statement vowing to get “the full Biden agenda back on track”.

The White House said the meeting was “constructive” and the two sides “discussed their shared commitment to seizing this moment to make investing in families the heart of our economic growth and competitiveness”.

Despite the concessions by the left, however, Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema are reluctant to relinquish the upper hand. Senator Manchin has refused to commit to the new October 31 deadline set by party leaders to reach a deal, while Senator Sinema has infuriated fellow Democrats by declining to say which parts of the $US3.5 trillion bill she objects to.

With the fate of his presidency in the balance on Capitol Hill, Mr Biden shifted strategy on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT), flying to Michigan to promote his plans to the public in an effort to win over moderate Democrats.

As his approval rating slumps in the wake of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, White House aides are said to be concerned that Mr Biden has been bogged down by the party infighting in Washington. The President himself is reportedly eager to move the conversation on to the benefits of his spending plan for ordinary Americans, and away from the price tag.

“We must communicate to the country the transformative nature of the initiatives in the legislation,” Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, wrote in a letter to Democrats.

On top of his standoff with ­fellow Democrats, Mr Biden also faces a showdown with Republicans in congress over raising America’s national debt limit.

The US is poised to breach the debt ceiling within two weeks, risking a catastrophic default for the first time in its history.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, has barred any of his members from voting to raise the debt ceiling as he attempts to force Democrats to take a complicated legal route and carry the responsibility alone.

Democrats argue the limit must be raised not only for Mr Biden’s spending plans, but for debts that soared under Donald Trump’s presidency.

The White House has accused Senator McConnell of flirting with disaster. Mr Biden lashed out at the Republican position on Monday, denouncing it as “hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful”. Asked if he could guarantee the debt ceiling would be raised, the President said: “No, I can’t. That’s up to Mitch McConnell.”

In Michigan, Mr Biden appeared with Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic representative in a district narrowly won by Mr Trump at the election last year.

The fine electoral margins underscore the need to bring the Democratic Party together as it eyes the midterm elections next year, when Republicans could take back ­control of one or both houses of congress.

The Times