On The Money — Presented by Citi — Schumer signals delay for Biden plan
Happy Friday and welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. Subscribe here: digital-staging.thehill.com/newsletter-signup.
Today’s Big Deal: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) indicated that the Senate won’t pass the Build Back Better Act this year. We’ll also tell you about the White House exploring the possibility of double child tax credit payments in February and the pressure facing President Biden on student loans.
For The Hill, we’re Naomi Jagoda and Aris Folley. Write Naomi at njagoda@digital-staging.thehill.com or @NJagoda and Aris Folley at afolley@digital-staging.thehill.com or @ArisFolley. You can reach our Finance team colleague Sylvan Lane at slane@digital-staging.thehill.com or @SylvanLane.
Let’s get to it.
Schumer: Build Back Better won’t pass in 2021
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday acknowledged that talks between President Biden and centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will continue, a clear signal that Biden’s sweeping climate and social spending plan will not pass this year.
“The president requested more time to continue his negotiations, and so we will keep working with him, hand in hand, to bring this bill over the finish line and deliver on these much-needed provisions,” Schumer said in remarks on the floor.
He did not provide any clear timeline for when the more than 2,000-page bill might eventually come to the floor. The subtext of Schumer’s statement was that Congress will adjourn for the year without a Senate vote on the Build Back Better Act, despite his efforts to get the bill passed by Christmas.
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Schumer’s remarks about the state of the Build Back Better bill came after Biden released a statement on Thursday in which the president said that his talks with Manchin will stretch until at least next week.
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Democratic senators say that the Senate parliamentarian also has to finish meeting with both sides to advise on whether the components of the bill meet the Senate’s stringent Byrd rule.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that most Republicans are eager to get out of town and are glad that Build Back Better didn’t pass this year.
Read more from The Hill’s Alexander Bolton here.
A MESSAGE FROM CITI
Tackling the startup world’s gender, race and ethnic funding gap.
With our $200 million Impact Investment Fund we are seeking opportunities to invest in businesses that are led or owned by women and minority entrepreneurs, helping to create equitable access to venture capital funding.
LEADING THE DAY
White House says double child tax credit payments possible in February
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said that the Biden administration is looking into the possibility of making double child tax credit payments in February if the president’s social spending package is enacted in January.
“If we get it done in January, we’ve talked to Treasury officials and others about doing double payments in February as an option,” Psaki said during a gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One.
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Psaki’s comments come as monthly child tax credit payments established under President Biden’s coronavirus relief law are set to expire at the end of the year.
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The White House and congressional Democrats want to extend the payments as part of a massive social spending and climate package. However, the bill is not on track to become law before the end of the year.
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Democratic lawmakers have indicated that they don’t have a viable backup plan to extend the monthly payments before they expire.
Read more from Naomi here.
SALLIE MAE BACK
Pressure builds on Biden ahead of student loan cliff
President Biden is facing an avalanche of pressure over his administration’s plans to require millions of Americans to resume student loan payments in the coming weeks.
In recent days, the White House has drawn widespread blowback as advocates and progressives implore the administration to push back — or forego entirely — a February date to lift a pandemic forbearance on student loan payments.
“This is going to be a hard blow to people who have struggled throughout this pandemic. It’s the wrong move,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told The Hill.
Aris has more here.
WH disappointed by immigration decision
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said that it is deeply disappointing that the Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected the most recent plan from Democrats for including immigration reform in President Biden’s Build Back Better bill.
“The decision by the parliamentarian is deeply disappointing and relegates millions to an uncertain and frightening future,” Psaki told reporters on Friday.
The parliamentarian told senators that immigration reform doesn’t meet the rules for what can be included in a budget measure bypassing the Senate’s filibuster, a major setback for Democrats hoping to provide a pathway to citizenship in the sweeping climate and spending bill.
Read more from The Hill’s Alex Gangitano here.
A MESSAGE FROM CITI
Tackling the startup world’s gender, race and ethnic funding gap.
With our $200 million Impact Investment Fund we are seeking opportunities to invest in businesses that are led or owned by women and minority entrepreneurs, helping to create equitable access to venture capital funding.
Good to Know
The Securities and Exchange Commission just announced a $125 million fine against J.P. Morgan Securities, part of banking and investment company JPMorgan Chase, because it said employees evaded reporting requirements by using WhatsApp and other messaging services.
Here’s what else have our eye on:
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China on Friday said that the U.S. has “no scruples” after it passed a bill against the Xinjiang region and applied new sanctions to the area for human rights abuses.
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Peloton has retracted actor Chris Noth’s viral ad after two women alleged he sexually assaulted them in separate incidents.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you next week.{mosads}
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