Little by little, the wheels are falling off the Democrats’ massive spending bill. In the most recent change, Biden informed progressive Democrats that free community college probably won’t make the cut.
This is an issue that senators like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have been pushing for years. They are not going to be happy about this.
CNN reports:
Biden discusses $1.9 trillion top line for economic package and tells Democrats free community college is outPresident Joe Biden informed House progressives Tuesday afternoon that the final bill to expand the social safety net is expected to drop tuition-free community college, a major White House priority, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.And the President discussed a $1.75 to $1.9 trillion price tag for the sweeping spending package, according to a person familiar with the talks. While the number is not finalized, it is far closer to West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s $1.5 trillion top line than progressives’ number, which was $3.5 trillion…Biden had called for making two years of community college free — a long-time priority for many Democrats. Some progressives — like Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats — have pushed for even more, calling for making tuition free at public, four-year colleges.The President has highlighted the free college proposal in speeches across the country for months, telling one audience in July he was “insisting that we have universal pre-kindergarten (and) two years of free community college.”
Even Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who has been a champion for the spending bill, is conceding this point.
The Hill reports:
Jayapal says tuition-free community college ‘probably won’t’ be in spending planRep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) expressed doubt on Tuesday that the tuition-free community college proposal previously floated by Democrats to be included in the sweeping social spending plan the party is crafting will be included in the final version.“There will be something for higher education, but it probably won’t be the free community college,” Jayapal, who chairs Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the told reporters when discussing ongoing negotiations within the party for the spending plan.Jayapal’s comments came shortly after CNN reported that President Biden, who has pushed for the measure as a key part of his legislative agenda, told progressives the proposal likely won’t make it into the finalized package…While Jayapal told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that “nothing’s done yet,” she added that she thinks the measure “probably has got a tough road ahead.”
This is a good question:
The left is going to be really angry about this. I’ll be surprised if there are no protests.
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