Biden, Democrats exploring new tax options after Sinema reportedly blocks rate hikes on corporations, the wealthy

Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Biden, Rob Portman
(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

President Biden held a private call with top congressional Democrats and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen late Wednesday to discuss alternate ways of paying for the roughly $1.9 trillion Build Back Better package that appears to be taking shape in Washington, The Washington Post reports. The scramble for new revenue sources is due, to some large extent, by staunch opposition from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to the proposed increases in tax rates on corporations, capital gains, and individuals earning more than $400,000 a year, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, The New York Times, and the Post.

Sinema "has previously told lobbyists that she is opposed to any increase in those rates," the Journal reports. Unlike fellow centrist holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sinema has not publicly discussed what she wants for her support or why. Manchin, unlike Sinema, publicly supports unwinding the GOP's 2017 tax cuts for corporations and high earners, but he also, unlike Sinema, is insisting the Build Back Better package be budget-neutral. Democrats need all 50 of their senators to pass the bill.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.