Senate Republicans Kill Effort To Suspend Debt Ceiling, Avert Shutdown

The Washington Post: Senate Republicans Block Measure To Fund Government, Stave Off U.S. Default 
Senate Republicans on Monday blocked a bill that would fund the government, provide billions of dollars in hurricane relief and stave off a default in U.S. debts, part of the party’s renewed campaign to undermine President Biden’s broader economic agenda. The GOP’s opposition dealt a death blow to the measure, which had passed the House last week, and now adds to the pressure on Democrats to devise their own path forward ahead of urgent fiscal deadlines. A failure to address the issues could cause severe financial calamity, the White House has warned, potentially plunging the United States into another recession. (Romm, 9/27)

NBC News: Pelosi Says Biden's Infrastructure Bill Can't Wait For Social Safety Net Bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats on Monday that passage of the $550 billion infrastructure bill must not wait for President Joe Biden's multitrillion-dollar safety net bill, saying the larger package is not yet ready for a vote. In a private caucus meeting, Pelosi, D-Calif., said the party must "make difficult choices," because the dynamics have changed and Democrats have not yet agreed to a spending level, according to a source familiar with the meeting. (Kapur, 9/27)

Politico: Pelosi Steers Dems Toward Infrastructure Vote, Without Spending Bill In Tow
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reversing a months-long vow to push through the two major planks of Democrats’ domestic agenda in tandem, a huge shift just days before a critical infrastructure vote. Pelosi explained her thinking in a rare Monday night caucus session, saying she and President Joe Biden are continuing to push the Senate on negotiations related to the social spending package, but the House must move ahead on infrastructure this week before surface transportation funding expires Thursday. (Caygle and Ferris, 9/27)

Also —

Politico: Democrats Grapple With Cuts To Health Care Priorities 
Top House Democrats are voicing a new willingness to pare down their ambitious health care proposals within the sweeping $3.5 trillion social spending bill as they scramble to build consensus ahead of a potential vote this week. President Joe Biden’s call for $400 billion to boost long-term care services is expected to be sharply trimmed, lawmakers and advocates told POLITICO. And plans to expand Medicaid to more than 2 million people in states that have for a decade refused to do so may also have to be curtailed, said Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), one of Congress’ most enthusiastic supporters of that effort. (Ollstein, 9/27)

Politico: Dems May Drop Debt Fight To Avoid Shutdown 
Democrats are hinting they’re willing to drop the debt ceiling from their government funding package this week in order to avoid a government shutdown, a sign that their slim majorities are eager to avoid a shuttered federal government on their watch. Senate Republicans sank Democrats’ plans to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling together on Monday evening, sending Democratic leaders scrambling to avoid a government shutdown that would kick in Friday morning. They have several options, Democrats said in the aftermath, but a government shutdown is not one. (Everett, Levine and Scholtes, 9/27)

The Hill: Democrats Scramble To Satisfy Disparate Members On Spending Package
House Democrats are scrambling to make changes to their $3.5 trillion spending package in order to satisfy disparate groups of members in time for a floor vote as soon as possible. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said over the weekend that the House needs to pass the bill this week, along with a bipartisan infrastructure bill, a prospect that remains daunting. (Jagoda and Folley, 9/27)

Politico: Facing A Heap Of Defeat, Progressives Stake Hopes On Spending Bill
Immigration, voting rights, policing, gun control: Congress is filled with liberal hopes crushed by the reality of slim Democratic majorities. So progressives are digging in on what could be their last chance at success in years. As Democrats race to pull together a multitrillion-dollar party-line social spending package, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s left flank is pushing as hard as it can to see progressive priorities reflected. They’ve repeatedly vowed to tank a bipartisan infrastructure bill on the floor as soon as this week if they don’t see more movement — a strategic flex that reflects how many of their other goals have withered. (Levine, Wu and Ferris, 9/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Kyrsten Sinema Is Enigma At Center Of Democrats’ Spending Talks 
Senate Democrats trying to pass a sweeping education, healthcare and climate package must first crack an enigma: What does centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema want? Ms. Sinema, a key vote in the evenly divided Senate, has made clear she won’t support the package’s current $3.5 trillion price tag, announcing her opposition in July and reiterating it since then. The first-term senator from a swing state has held meetings with party leaders to discuss the legislation, but she hasn’t publicly suggested specific changes. Many Democrats remain uncertain over her policy stance and her political calculations. (Collins and Peterson, 9/26)

In related news from Capitol Hill —

Stat: Big Business Lobbies Bitterly Divided Over Drug Pricing Reform 
Groups representing companies like Apple, Tesla, and Boeing are clashing with Washington’s wealthiest business lobby over Democrats’ efforts to bring down drug prices. The biggest-spending lobbying organization in the country, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, adamantly opposes Democrats’ ideas for drug pricing reform, saying they are unwelcome government price controls. But other groups representing the largest businesses in the country, including Walmart, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Boeing, and The Walt Disney Company, have demanded wide-reaching reforms to help lower the cost of insuring their employees. (Cohrs, 9/28)

KHN: An Ad’s Charge That Price Haggling Would ‘Swipe $500 Billion From Medicare’ Is Incorrect
The advertisement opens with a doctor sitting across from his patient and holding a prescription drug pill bottle. “You want to continue with this medication?” the doctor asks while an older patient nods. The doctor then explains that he can no longer provide the medicine to her because insurance companies and Washington bureaucrats “are working together to swipe $500 billion from Medicare to pay for [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer’s out-of-control spending spree.” (Knight, 9/28)