Summary:
There has been no shortage of activity in Congress as of late. Recently, Democratic leaders in Congress have been trying to rally the party in order to pass President Biden's $3.5 trillion spending package. The Democrats' goal is to enact Biden's economic agenda, which includes this package and an additional infrastructure spending plan, by October 31. Congress is also approaching an October 18 deadline to raise the debt ceiling before the U.S. defaults on debt. At the same time, the U.S. faces potential government shutdown if Congress does not agree on a new appropriations bill by December 3. (What a time!)
Student Opinions:
Annette Chun '22 (I):
Biden’s lofty plan to pass a budget reconciliation bill that would spend an exorbitant amount of $3.5 trillion has sparked controversy amongst both parties. When I first heard of this news, I was frankly surprised to hear that our President, known for his moderate ways, was taking an ambitious leap forward with his proposal. It is interesting to see, however, the inner-party conflict between the moderates and progressives of the Democratic party that has arisen with this plan.
I personally doubt that Biden’s plan will be able to make it through Congress, especially since the Republicans have unanimously decided to work together against the budget bill as the Democrat progressive and moderate factions face off within their own party. While the progressives express their dissatisfaction and demand for more spending, moderates like Joe Manchin fight back, saying that “There’s no way that we can get this done by the 27th if we do our job.” Similarly, Kyrsten Sinema told reporters, "I have also made clear that while I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion.”
It was surprising to see the Democrats in such turmoil, whereas the Republicans seem to have unified together in order to shut the proposal down. In contrast to last year, when the Republicans were divided within their party due to Trump’s polarizing nature, it seems now that they have pulled themselves together more effectively than their Democratic rivals.
Given the circumstances, the most realistic way that Biden and the Democrats will be able to pass the budget bill is by reducing the spending amount. Although the budget bill is a valiant effort to make substantive investments into improving health care, transportation, and climate change, the budget won’t be passed without a compromise within the Democratic Party.
I believe that the only way to find a balance is by cutting down the cost of the budget plan. Spending $3.5 trillion is unrealistic and excessive in the long run. With the debt ceiling looming over the Democrats' heads, Biden has a lot of work to do in order to pull his party together and gain their support.
Rocco Burdge '22 (D):
I awoke to an email from the New York Times mentioning that the United States government was only hours away from shutting down. On my walk to the chapel, the headline of the Washington Post declared that the government had just barely avoided a shutdown. But while the media was in a frenzy about the prospect of a government shutdown, I found that very few people even knew what a government shutdown was — so here is my best attempt to explain the current situation.
On October 1, 2021, the United States government was going to run out of money, which meant that government workers such as TSA agents or mail carriers would be furloughed and not receive their paychecks. This shutdown would potentially decrease the United States’ economic growth by tens of millions, even billions, of dollars. How much exactly is unknown, but the last shutdown under the Trump administration, which lasted thirty-five days, cost the United States economy eleven billion dollars.
You may now ask why congressional leaders who run the nation procrastinated until the last possible day to enact something. The reason is because of the debt ceiling. Essentially, because Biden and his fellow Democrats are trying to enact some of the most expensive legislation in history, the U.S. will need to go into debt to pass such measures. Democratic members of Congress were hoping to raise the debt ceiling but had a deadline to fund the government at the same time. Ultimately, the Democrats failed at this goal and are now faced with the challenge of averting a government shutdown by December 3. According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Congress also currently has until October 18 to raise the debt ceiling before the U.S. government begins to default on debt, which could have some serious economic implications.
I believe that Democratic leaders did the right thing by postponing the debt ceiling vote to negotiate rather than keep fighting in Congress. In terms of politics, with the mess of Afghanistan still looming over Biden and the Democratic party, it is essential for Democrats to avoid any bad press coverage in order to have a chance at holding the Senate and House in 2022.
I also believe that Republican party leaders are playing a morally corrupt game by using the debt ceiling as a negotiating tool. Suppose Democrats and Republicans cannot agree about the debt ceiling in the following weeks. In that case, the fallout of such a problem could be devastating, possibly costing trillions of dollars in economic growth.
Under the previous administration, Republicans and Democrats agreed to raise the debt ceiling by eight trillion dollars. My question is: Why can’t we do the same now? All things considered, I recommend paying close attention to congressional politics in the coming weeks because — and trust me when I say this — things are about to go down.
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