| This afternoon, Congress narrowly avoid a shutdown — for now. But it's only a temporary pause in the drama. Lawmakers are still fighting over how to suspend the debt ceiling in the next few weeks to avoid a potentially calamitous default on U.S. debts. And Democrats are still fighting among themselves over how to pass an infrastructure bill and a massive spending bill that would deliver many of the promises they campaigned on. What happens over the next few weeks could make or break President Biden's agenda.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is swarmed by reporters as she arrives on Capitol Hill on Thursday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) | As Democrats were wrangling with each other over infrastructure and all lawmakers were voting to keep the government open today, we held a live chat to talk about this. Joining me was White House economics reporter Jeff Stein and national health-care reporter Rachel Roubein. Here are some excerpts, lightly edited for length, that I thought you'd find interesting. Q: Speaker Pelosi said she views [a $3.5 trillion social safety net bill] as the capstone to her congressional career. Given their narrow majorities in Congress and how the president's party usually performs in midterm elections, it's very likely they lose their majorities in 2022. Are those calculations weighing on members' minds moving forward? Jeff: Yes, Democrats are acutely aware that this could be their last chance in years or decades to pass major legislation — particularly given the existential threat posed by climate change. Q: What political gain is there for an Arizona senator to block an agenda full of popular proposals? Amber: It's this: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema won her seat in 2018 with 50 percent of the vote, the first Democrat three decades to hold a Senate seat in Arizona. In her calculation, she needs Republican votes to win reelection. That being said, Sinema is in a tough spot politically, because the Democrats who are in Arizona don't seem to be too happy with her. A recent poll found that 30 percent of Democrats in the state have a negative view of her, which is a lot.  Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Wednesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) | Q: What's the point of progressives killing the bipartisan infrastructure bill? Rachel: Progressives want to ensure Democrats pass the larger social spending bill, so they are using their opposition to the bipartisan bill as leverage. Q: The [spending bill] top-line number was $3.5 trillion. Can you provide a breakdown broadly of what costs what in the proposal? Jeff: This is a great question I'm currently working through. The challenge is it changes a lot as lawmakers haggle over various provisions. I think the below will illustrate why Dems are so worried about having to cut their package to $1.5 trillion, as Sen. Joe Manchin appears to want. To ballpark, I think it's roughly safe to say their spending plans include: Climate $800B-1 trillion: Climate change measures, particularly clean energy tax credits and new payments to utility companies to incentivize conversion to clean energy sources Health care $500B: Making permanent an expansion of Obamacare, a top priority of Nancy Pelosi's $350B: Expanding Medicare benefits to cover dental, vision, and hearing $300B: Expanding Medicaid to cover Americans in states that did not expand to the poorest Americans Education $200B: Affordable nationwide child care $200B: Universal prekindergarten $100B: Free two-year community college Other big programs $500B: Extending the more robust Child Tax Credit through 2025 $200B: Paid family leave nationwide $200B: Upgrade nation's decaying housing stock Q: Is immigration going to make it into [this bill]? Rachel: The plan is to use budget reconciliation, a maneuver that lets Democrats pass the bill without GOP votes. But the process is subject to certain rules, and the Senate parliamentarian — a nonpartisan arbiter of those rules — advised against including immigration in the bill. Q: It seems like the media is not spending much time on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) tactics to obstruct legislation, even to the point of blocking a debt limit vote. Why is he not being raked over the coals in more press coverage of this situation?  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) arrives on Capitol Hill on Thursday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) | Amber: 1. "The media" is a broad term. I know that I've written about how what Republicans are doing is extraordinary, and at The Washington Post, we regularly fact check McConnell's points. 2. It's not our job to rake politicians over the coals. 3. Democrats knew this was coming months ago and decide to engage in playing this game of chicken by bringing the debt ceiling for a vote in a way McConnell has said he would block. What are you curious about in politics? Ask me your questions anytime here, and I'll feature some in an upcoming newsletter. I'll include a link to this at the bottom of most newsletters. Thanks for reading and your feedback! | 
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