Senate Democrats have decided to strip paid family and medical leave benefits from Biden’s social spending package, Politico reporter Eleanor Mueller said on Wednesday.
Sources told Mueller that attempts to water down the bill didn’t work out. In recent weeks, Democrats have scrambled for new revenue sources to pay for the “Build Back Better” bill, which was initially targeted at $4 trillion and may end up at $1.5 trillion or smaller. Key centrist Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have variously opposed most of the new tax proposals that Democrats have suggested.
The family and medical leave benefits were a central focus of President Joe Biden during his 2020 campaign and, even if enacted, would leave Americans with some of the stingiest leave benefits in all the developed world, The New York Times’ Upshot reported.
Democrats were hoping to pass the “Build Back Better” bill — along with a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill — this week.
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