Biden claims 'everybody's' on board for his $1.75 trillion spending plan. Here's what's inside.
Ladies and gentlemen, the day very few of you have been waiting for might finally be here.
After weeks of back and forth, President Biden announced a $1.75 trillion Build Back Better framework on Thursday, meaning the only thing left to do is secure broad Capitol Hill support — perhaps the most daunting task of all. If you ask Biden, though, apparently "everybody's" already on board (but we're not sure everyone's on that same page).
So what's inside? The framework allocates $400 billion toward child care and preschool, $555 billion toward clean energy and climate investments, $150 billion to expand affordable housing, and $200 billion toward the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Credit, among other investments. Notably, per CNN, the framework does not include expanding Medicare coverage to include vision or dental — a key provision for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Paid family leave and prescription drug pricing reform were also cut, reports The New York Times and The Washington Post.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A senior administration official on Thursday called the plan — which is a signficant roll back from an initially proposed topline number of $3.5 trillion dollars — the "most transformative investment in children and caregiving in generations, the largest effort to combat climate change in history, a historic tax cut for tens of millions of middle-class families and the biggest expansion of affordable health care in a decade," per CNN.
Despite the legislation's storied history, the White House remains confident this new proposal will have enough support to pass both chambers of Congress at long last, per the Post. Now, the president will present the plan in a private meeting with House Democrats before then unveiling it to the public Thursday afternoon.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Zimbabwe’s driving crisisUnder the Radar Southern African nation is experiencing a ‘public health disaster’ with one of the highest road fatality rates in the world
-
The Mint’s 250th anniversary coins face a whitewashing controversyThe Explainer The designs omitted several notable moments for civil rights and women’s rights
-
‘If regulators nix the rail merger, supply chain inefficiency will persist’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
Will the new year bring a new shutdown?Today’s Big Question A January deadline could bring the pain all over again
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Is Trump deliberately redacting Epstein files to shield himself?Today’s Big Question Removal of image from publicly released documents prompts accusations of political interference by justice department
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
