President Joe Biden lunched with Democrats on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the party proceeds with the delicate task of crafting two separate pieces of legislation worth a combined $4.1 trillion in new spending.
Biden’s attendance at the lunch comes following a late-night announcement from Democratic Senate leaders that they had agreed on a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, the first step in unlocking a process that could allow Democrats to pass some of Biden’s American Families plan priorities without any Republican support.
In an hour-long lunch meeting behind closed doors, Senate Democrats peppered Biden with questions about the new budget blueprint and the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, according to numerous attendees.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with the chairman of the Budget Committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and panel member Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who has fought to reign in the broader legislation, walked the president and caucus through the outlines of the $4.1 trillion in proposed new spending.
According to a senior Democratic aide, the budget proposal includes an extension of the child tax credit expansion first carved out in March’s COVID-19 relief bill. Families with children under 6 years old receive $3,600 per year per child under that expansion and families of older children receive $3,000 per child.
