Will it work?
As Democrats enter their second year controlling both the Congress and House, they are shifting gears, moving away from wish list items that Democrats had hoped to pass into law during Biden’s first year and toward a tamer agenda.
Writing to fellow Democrats on Friday (January 21), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi listed the Party’s federal legislative plans for the year, failing to include many of the Democrats and President Biden’s campaign promises.
The list was noticeably void of bills pertaining to free community college, free preschool, expanded medicare, and green energy policies, which had been introduced in Biden’s first year in office and suppressed by centrists.
Speaking after the latest defeat –– voting rights legislation –– Pelosi was adamant that Democrats had a “great deal to be proud of.”
Speaking on Biden’s Build Back Better Act, which was stalled in the Senate by Democrat Senator Joe Manchin, Pelosi said “with that, we go on to what we want to do next.”
This “next” may include scrapping the bill and starting over, as Manchin revealed he would not be supporting the Build Back Better Act in any capacity.
Further on the agenda were other second-tier priorities, including government spending for 2022, legislation aimed at strengthening U.S. competitiveness in the production of core technology, and closing gaps in the supply chain.
The list also included legislation to authorize “robust sanctions” against Russia’s government officials and financial institutions as a result of the Ukraine crisis.
In the letter to Democrats, Pelosi also reaffirmed honoring the PACT Act, a bipartisan bill that funds military veterans that have injuries as a result of exposure to burn pits. The reforming of the struggling U.S. Post Office, reviving the two-decade-old effort that is yet to be passed by Congress.
