The broad outlines set, President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion economic agenda now faces exhaustive, microscopic congressional scrutiny over its spending and finance particulars.
But its fate hinges on more visceral considerations. The new President’s ability to push his massive plans through the House and Senate will not turn on precise levels of new child care subsidies or Congressional Budget Office revenue projections.
“That’s window-dressing,” observed Ben Nelson, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska who has lived through comparable legislative slogs. “Terms rarely kill a deal. It boils down to the will.”
The will, that is, of decisive players to act on their convictions when political cross-winds grow fiercest. Details that emerge from painstaking closed-door haggling end up largely as justifications — or excuses.
Currently the spotlight shines brightest on 11 Republican senators whose votes Biden needs to overcome a filibuster of their $1.2 trillion compromise with Democrats on physical infrastructure. Their willingness to strike that bipartisan deal reflects the broad political appeal of upgrading America’s roads, bridges and broadband networks.