Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Cedes Ground To Moderates Pushing For Smaller Spending Bill
AP: In Budget Turning Point, Biden Conceding Smaller Price Tag
President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats’ push for a 10-year, $3.5 trillion package of social and environmental initiatives has reached a turning point, with the president repeatedly conceding that the measure will be considerably smaller and pivotal lawmakers flashing potential signs of flexibility. In virtual meetings Monday and Tuesday with small groups of House Democrats, Biden said he reluctantly expected the legislation’s final version to weigh in between $1.9 trillion and $2.3 trillion, a Democrat familiar with the sessions said Tuesday. He told them he didn’t think he could do better than that, the person said, reflecting demands from some of the party’s more conservative lawmakers. (Fram, 10/6)
The New York Times: Biden Scales Back His Agenda In Hopes Of Bringing Moderates Onboard
President Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress in recent days have slashed their ambitions for a major expansion of America’s social safety net to a package worth $2.3 trillion or less, which will force hard choices about how to scale back a proposal that the president hopes will be transformational. The figure is substantially less than Mr. Biden’s earlier plan, which called for $3.5 trillion in new spending and tax cuts to spur a generational expansion of government in Americans’ lives, including efforts to fight climate change and child poverty, increase access to education and help American companies compete with China. (Tankersley and Cochrane, 10/5)
Democrats might try to change the filibuster rules —
The Washington Post: Biden Says Changing Filibuster Rules To Raise Debt Ceiling Is A ‘Real Possibility’
President Biden late Tuesday said it is a “real possibility” that Senate Democrats could seek to revise the chamber’s filibuster rules to overcome a Republican blockade on raising the debt ceiling. Such a major change could give Democrats the ability to stave off a potential, calamitous default roughly two weeks before a critical fiscal deadline — but only if all party lawmakers agree to loosen the Senate’s typical 60-vote threshold in a way some have been disinclined to do for months. (Romm, 10/5)
Politico: Biden Broaches Nuclear Option In Standoff With McConnell
Joe Biden indicated late Tuesday he was warming to a Democratic proposal to blow up the rules of the Senate to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, amid fears that a breach would send the U.S. government into default and the whole economy into a tailspin. The president told reporters that a filibuster carve out to solve the current stalemate with Republicans over the debt limit before the estimated Oct. 18 deadline was a “real possibility.” It was a remark that sources inside the administration said reflected the growing belief that the party may need to take drastic steps to prevent default. It also served as a signal to Senate Democrats that the president supports their own growing conviction that a change to the chamber’s rules may be needed to head off a financial crisis. (Cadelago, Barron-Lopez and Korecki, 10/5)
In related news —
Axios: Democrats' Struggle To Fill The Medicaid Expansion Gap
Democrats' push to extend health coverage to millions of very low-income people in red states has a lot working against it: It's expensive, it's complicated, it may invite legal challenges, and few national Democrats stand to gain politically from it. The policy is being framed as a test not only of Democrats' commitment to universal health coverage, but also their commitment to racial equity. (Owens, 10/6)
The Hill: Manchin's 'Red Line' On Abortion Splits Democrats
Democrats are clashing over whether to include in their sweeping spending plan a decades-old amendment that blocks Medicaid and other federal health programs from being used to cover abortions. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), already a key stumbling block to Democratic unity on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, has drawn a line in the sand around the issue, but others in the party are split over whether to include the so-called Hyde Amendment in a portion of the spending bill that would create a new federal program to provide health care coverage to low-income individuals in GOP-led states that haven’t adopted Medicaid expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Folley, 10/6)
