President Joe Biden on Tuesday is traveling to a swing district in Michigan to promote his economic agenda, as Democrats in Washington continue to wrangle over the details of a major social-spending plan.
Biden is scheduled to speak in Howell, Mich., about both a bipartisan infrastructure bill and his so-called Build Back Better agenda, the White House says, “which will grow our economy by investing in working families, paid for by repealing tax giveaways to the rich.”
The president’s trip comes as lawmakers are adjusting their spending plans and deadlines amid infighting between Democratic progressives and moderates.
Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called off a planned vote on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, and later announced a new target date of Oct. 31 for passing the measure. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said top lawmakers’ goal is to be done in the next month with the infrastructure bill and a larger Democratic package targeting “human infrastructure,” climate change and other party priorities. The price tag of that bigger, so-called reconciliation package is expected to shrink from an original $3.5 trillion.
A key Senate Democratic moderate, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, said Tuesday that he isn’t ruling out a package of between $1.9 trillion and $2.2 trillion, after having previously suggesting a price tag of $1.5 trillion.
Biden’s speech will be in the district of Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a moderate Democrat who’s not yet on board with the reconciliation package, Politico reports. Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, has said she’s in favor of passing the infrastructure bill and then negotiating the rest of Biden’s Build Back Better proposals Democrats want to pass through the budget reconciliation process, Politico notes.
Ahead of his speech, Biden is due to meet virtually on Tuesday morning with Democratic House lawmakers about the bills targeting infrastructure and social spending.
Biden may also again attempt to spur Congress to act to raise the U.S. debt limit, a day after warning that “a meteor is headed to crash into our economy” if the borrowing limit isn’t increased.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the U.S. would fall into another recession if Congress doesn’t address the debt limit. The failure of Congress to act would be “catastrophic,” she said in an interview on CNBC.
“It is utterly essential that this be done,” Yellen said. She called Oct. 18 “the deadline.”
U.S. stocks SPX, +1.05% DJIA, +0.92% traded higher Tuesday, bouncing back after the prior day’s slump that was led by tech stocks.
Now read: Yellen says U.S. will sink into recession if Congress does not act on debt limit
MarketWatch’s Victor Reklaitis and Greg Robb contributed to this report.
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