This means Biden won’t be able to pass whatever he wants

Photos: AP Images

This week President Joe Biden learned a lesson about the limitations of his power. On the one hand, he notched an important victory, signing the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package, giving citizens checks for $1,400, and eligible families grants of over $10,000. The bill contains many other provisions for aid to teachers, small business owners, and more.

But other elements of the bill brought bad news for Biden. Over the past few weeks we’ve covered the debate over a $15 minimum wage hike in these pages. This is a signature issue that many Democrats support, from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to more mainstream elements of the party, including President Biden himself. The final version of the bill did not include any provision for raising the minimum wage. Why did Congressional Democrats give up on this key campaign promise?

First of all, party moderates will tell you it was never part of their agenda, but an issue pushed by Sanders and his ilk. For political reasons, some Democrats are eager to proclaim that they’re not socialists. Second, Delaware senator Chris Coons, among those Dems who voted against adding the minimum wage hike to the aid bill, likely would have voted the other way if he thought it would help Biden. Whether Biden himself told them, or if they figured out for themselves, it was clear that this wasn’t the time and place.

Everyone remembers John McCain’s thumbs-down gesture during the vote in 2017 that sealed the fate of Trump’s efforts to repeal Obamacare. This time, Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) voted down the minimum wage hike with a dramatic thumbs-down. Congress has a crowded timetable. A failed measure won’t come up for discussion again so soon. It’s safe to assume that a measure that couldn’t muster a majority this time is simply dead.

And what does this tell us about the future? This means Biden won’t be able to pass whatever he wants. He even had to strike compromises with West Virginia senator Joe Manchin on several clauses of the stimulus bill related to unemployment benefits. But any Democrats still entertaining fantasies about abolishing the filibuster, adding D.C. as a 51st state, or packing the Supreme Court need to recognize that the party has a moderate wing and a progressive wing. And in a 50-50 tie where every vote counts, the option of passing measures outside the political consensus simply doesn’t exit.

By the way, that’s not necessarily bad news for Biden. At the end of the day he was elected to implement his own agenda, not the agenda of the more radical wing of his party.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 852)