Biden failing to deliver as legislator in chief

Key word. Campaign. 

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

President Joe Biden's legislative acumen, a major selling point during his campaign for the White House, is being called into question as Democrats on Capitol Hill fail to advance his agenda.

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Biden leaned heavily on his 36 years in the Senate and eight years as vice president to argue he had the experience necessary to govern. He even argued his years on the Hill would allow him to forge bipartisan coalitions and lead by consensus.

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"Look, folks, we're going to bring the Republicans and Democrats together and deliver economic relief for working families, and schools, and businesses," he vowed. "I promise you."

FIVE REASONS BIDEN'S APPROVAL RATINGS HAVE TAKEN A POUNDING

Biden also said he could deliver on his campaign promises better than the left wing of his Democratic Party.

"Give me a break," he once told a reporter. "I've been doing this my entire career. I'm going to say something outrageous: I don't know anybody who counts votes better than me in the Senate … I love the Left saying, 'Well, we could've gotten more.' OK, you go get it! You tell me how to get the 60 votes!"

Instead, Biden has tried to pass most of his agenda exclusively with Democratic votes — and has run into trouble even with that. A small but critical group of centrist Democrats says he wants the federal government to spend too much too fast, while the 95-member Congressional Progressive Caucus and left-wing lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders oppose giving any ground.

The biggest piece of legislation Biden has signed into law since taking office is a $1.9 trillion spending bill Democrats framed as fiscal stimulus related to the pandemic as Republicans countered it mainly funded liberal policy priorities with a tenuous connection to COVID-19. It passed with Democratic votes alone.

But the two-pronged approach of enacting a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill in tandem with a liberal spending bill nearly three times as large has stalled. Part of Biden's problem is that the Democrats' majorities are so narrow he has no votes to spare. He cannot lose even a handful of centrists in the House or Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate, much less a larger number of congressional liberals.

When the Senate passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill with a filibuster-proof majority — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell even joined 18 other Republicans in voting yes — it appeared he might have threaded the needle.

"The lesson learned is being willing to talk and listen," Biden told reporters at the White House. "Listen. Call people in. And I think the lesson learned is exposing people to other views."

He teased the assembled journalists by saying he might understand the legislative process better than they did.

Linking this bipartisan bill with the Democrats-only reconciliation legislation quickly turned off Republicans and centrists, however. Meanwhile, liberals only dug in further. It is the dilemma Biden has tried to resolve in numerous meetings with lawmakers representing the different factions.

"Well, I can tell you that the president is going to have a virtual meeting with a number of progressive House members later this afternoon in order to have a discussion about the path forward, which includes the recognition that this package is going to be smaller than originally propose," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at Monday's briefing. "And what he wants to hear from them is what their priorities are, what their bottom lines are, so he can play a constructive role in moving things forward."

"I would expect that later this week, he'll have probably another virtual meeting with members who might consider themselves more moderate, or however you want to define them," Psaki added. "They're all out of session this week, as you know, so, hence, that's why the meetings are virtual."

"There was agreement that what mattered most with respect to Build Back Better was following through on key priorities in a final legislative package to make a difference in real lives," the White House said a readout of the meeting with a dozen liberal House Democrats released on Monday night. "Tomorrow, the President will host another virtual meeting with moderate House Democrats."

Democrats remain confident in Biden's ability to deliver.

"It hasn't been pretty, but it will be a productive year for the president," said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon. "The 'American Rescue' Act is already law, and eventually, both infrastructure bills will pass Congress. Everybody wants the smaller of the two packages, and House progressives have made it clear that you can't get the small one without the big bill."

"The enactment of all three bills in a divided and polarized political climate is a significant accomplishment for the president and will revitalize the economy, fight climate change, and make wealthy Americans and big corporations pay their fair share of taxes," he added.

It's possible Biden will score a breakthrough and see bills encompassing his agenda reach his desk soon.

"It doesn't matter whether it's six minutes, six days, or six weeks — we're going to get it done," he told reporters as he left a meeting at the Capitol late last week.

There's also a chance Manchin's insistence on a reconciliation bill that spends closer to $1.5 trillion after liberals were already bid down from at least $6 trillion is just too wide a gap for any dealmaker to bridge. Democrats may even run into trouble trying to raise the debt ceiling or avert a partial government shutdown.

Biden isn't the only Democratic leader whose reputation is on the line. But the coming weeks represent his best chance to get something major done before the midterm elections.

Next year, Democratic lawmakers will be reluctant to take tough votes before they face their constituents. After that, there might not be any Democratic majorities to work with at the Capitol.

"That's why if we're going to Build Back Better, we need to do it now and let the voters decide," a Democratic operative said.