  Wednesday 03.31.21
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by Paul LeBlanc and Zachary B. Wolf : Reconciliation all over again President Joe Biden's infrastructure push kicked off in earnest Wednesday with a speech framing his sweeping $2 trillion plan as a critical investment in America's future.
The speech recalled a core pledge of Biden's campaign to lead as a uniter who can bring lawmakers together and get important things done. "Today, I'm proposing a plan for the nation that rewards work, not just rewards wealth. It builds a fair economy that gives everybody a chance to succeed," Biden said in Pittsburgh.
The proposal, dubbed the American Jobs Plan, represents a "once-in-a-generation investment in America," the President said.
But the soaring rhetoric and calls to action mask a political reality that is already taking shape. Democratic leadership in Congress is already preparing to revisit the same arcane budget process they employed to pass Biden's Covid relief package without any Republican support -- that's 50 senators plus Vice President Kamala Harris.
Parliamentary jiujitsu. Could the budgetary tool, known as reconciliation, be used as a vehicle to pass each prong of Biden's infrastructure and jobs plan? Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer seems to think so.
Read this report from CNN's Lauren Fox. Aides to the Democratic leader have been engaged in conversations with the Senate's parliamentarian about whether Biden's plan would fit into the confines of a budget resolution process, according to a Schumer aide.
In the past, senators had just one opportunity to use each budget resolution per fiscal year. That meant in this case senators had just one more budget resolution they could use.
But Democratic leaders believe they can use a specific provision in the Congressional Budget Act that would allow them to offer a "concurrent" resolution and therefore allow them another chance at reconciliation.
No final decisions have been made. The Senate parliamentarian has to rule that this is even allowed before negotiations begin in earnest. And approval to use the process won't set Democrats on a glide path toward passing the legislation -- remember the last-minute hiccup on the stimulus, when West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin briefly wavered over unemployment benefits?
The bottom line. Democrats are about to be presented with a legitimate challenge to party unity.
There's tension in a few different areas, but a lot of it boils down to this: Some in the party want to pursue infrastructure more narrowly while others view infrastructure as an opportunity to advance long-held Democratic priorities like paid family leave and raising taxes on corporations.
"I think just because the first package went a certain way, they should not over-read into that," one moderate Democrat told CNN on the condition of background to freely discuss the ongoing discussions.
"It is going to be tough for us."
In other words, regardless of the avenue Democrats pursue, prepare for a grueling few months of negotiations. : What's in the plan? The first thing to know about the infrastructure plan is that it's enormous, and addresses a lot more than just roads and bridges.
The President is expected to unveil his package focusing on the "care economy," including investments in education and child care, in coming weeks. But here are the top lines on the proposal Biden pushed today from CNN's Tami Luhby, Katie Lobosco and Kate Sullivan:
: Biden convenes his Cabinet The President is also set to call his Cabinet to meet in person for the first time tomorrow at the White House.
Aside from discussions of top administration priorities, the meeting will serve as yet another venue for the President to draw a contrast with his predecessor former President Donald Trump.
In the last administration, Cabinet officials often took turns praising Trump, who reserved ample time to praise himself as well. As CNN's Betsy Klein put it, the meetings mirrored the board room in an episode of Trump's old television show, NBC's "The Apprentice."
That probably won't be the scene tomorrow.
There's a lot to discuss. But Biden will be keeping the focus on his infrastructure plan, his top legislative priority, during the meeting, according to a White House official.
The group will social distance. Unlike traditional Cabinet meetings, the meeting will take place in the East Room, rather than the eponymous Cabinet Room, due to social distancing constraints amid the ongoing pandemic.
Expect to see all the big players. There are 25 expected attendees, including the confirmed Cabinet, Vice President Kamala Harris and chief of staff Ron Klain -- both of whom are Cabinet members -- as well as acting Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and other senior staff. : Voting rights latest It's not just Georgia.
Republicans in key electoral states continue to advance bills to clamp down on ballot access, many of them citing Trump's false claims of election fraud as a reason to tighten the rules -- moves that would also hinder Democratic-leaning voters.
To be clear, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in any state, and yet:
In Arizona, pending bills would repeal the state's permanent early voting list and require identification when submitting absentee ballots.
In Texas, lawmakers want to ban drive-through voting and bar election officials from sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications to voters.
In Michigan, a package of nearly 40 bills touches on nearly every aspect of elections -- from imposing new identification requirements on absentee ballot requests to overhauling the canvassing boards that certify election results.
In Florida, bills pushed by Republicans would set new restrictions on drop boxes and mail-in voting.
According to a February analysis by the liberal leaning Brennan Center for Justice, at least 253 bills have been considered that would restrict voting access -- more than six times the number of bills for the same time last year. CNN has reported there are such bills moving in at least 45 of the 50 states.
: Teen vaccine? A promising new development today in the US inoculation effort: Clinical trial results of Pfizer/BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine showed its efficacy is 100% and it is well tolerated in youths ages 12 to 15, the companies said.
Pfizer/BioNTech plan to submit the data to the US Food and Drug Administration as soon as possible for expanded emergency use authorization of the two-dose vaccine.
This is great news for a few reasons.
"The bottom line is that by the fall I think there's a good possibility we'll be vaccinating teenagers, 12 and up, and for middle schools, junior high schools, high schools, it's really good news in the United States for both teachers and staff," Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, said on CNN's New Day this morning.
"We'll have teachers and staff vaccinated, we'll have the students vaccinated in those middle schools and high schools." : What are we doing here? We're trying to connect the dots at a time of political, cultural and economic upheaval. All CNN Newsletters | Manage Profile
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