House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) told reporters this afternoon that Democratic Leadership is trying to get a framework for the large social infrastructure bill, despite the setback on payfors for the bill, in the next 48 hours. As negotiations continue on the package, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said that she’s ready to scrap two key components of the House’s version of the $3.5 trillion package, a long-term extension of the child tax credit and a hike in corporate tax rates, in order to get the legislation to President Biden’s desk. The child tax credit has emerged as a key selling point of the massive social spending bill, which stands at the center of Biden’s economic agenda, and Democrats are pushing to extend permanently an expansion of that credit, which they first adopted in March. Speaker Pelosi has set October 31st as the deadline for the Democratic-controlled chamber to pass the infrastructure deal that the Senate has already approved with bipartisan support. On Wednesday, she told reporters that it is “very possible” for Democrats to agree on a framework for Biden’s spending bill at the end of the week. Biden was clear he wants an agreement before going to a climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, that starts October 31st and the United States has pledged to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% by 2030 from 2005 levels. The president floated alternatives to a clean energy program that Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) opposes including $300 billion to support solar and wind energy as well as electric vehicles. An additional $150 billion would go to carbon capture and nuclear power, which may disappoint progressives who prefer other measures.
For today, the Senate will begin work on the nomination of Tana Lin to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Douglas Parker’s nomination to be assistant Labor secretary for occupational safety and health, and a cloture vote on Myrna Perez’s judicial nomination to be a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The House will take up the Resolution Recommending that the House of Representatives Find Stephen K. Bannon in Contempt of Congress for Refusal to Comply with a Subpoena Duly Issued by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. The panel voted to adopt the report Tuesday, and now the House is set to vote on it. Following the full House vote, House Speaker Pelosi is expected to certify the report to the United States attorney for the District of Columbia. Under law, this certification then requires the United States attorney to “bring the matter before the grand jury for its action,” but the Justice Department will also make its own determinations for prosecution. The criminal contempt report lays out all the correspondence between the committee and Bannon, revealing new details about what happened the day of his scheduled deposition and making his full subpoena publicly available for the first time.
