| Congressional Democrats want to tackle infrastructure next; some countries are suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum. | | | | | | | | | | | Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images | | - With Covid-19 relief passed, congressional Democrats are shaping up for a political battle over an infrastructure and tax package. They'll have to decide whether to allow cuts to their proposals to make the bill bipartisan — or again bypass Republicans with budget reconciliation in the Senate. [The Hill / Jordain Carney]
- Democrats have floated a $2 trillion package targeting transit, broadband, water systems, and new green jobs. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has instructed relevant House chairs to begin bipartisan negotiations. [The Independent / Griffin Connolly]
- But Pelosi also said Democrats want to remove Republicans' 2017 tax cuts and restructure some tax policy to pay for it, which could be a nonstarter for Republicans. [Politico / Jesse Naranjo]
- If Democrats move forward without the GOP, then the package would need to pass through budget reconciliation in the Senate, meaning all provisions would need to focus on spending or revenue. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) already believes reconciliation will have to be the path forward. [Yahoo! News / Ben Werschkul]
- House Budget Committee Chair John Yarmuth projected bipartisan talks would be ongoing for two months, but that if talks fall apart, Democrats would move forward with reconciliation and pass a bill in the fall. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), meanwhile, said he would not support a solely Democratic bill unless serious effort is made to court Republicans. [The Hill / Scott Wong]
- Democrats are expected to subsidize and incentivize the creation of green jobs including sustainable home-building, electric vehicle production, as well as fund broadband, water, bridge, rail, road, and utility infrastructure improvements. [Forbes / Jonathan Ponciano]
- A climate-change focus could complicate the use of reconciliation. Progressives will likely point to this hurdle and Republican opposition as an argument for abolishing the filibuster. [Insider / Sonam Sheth and Joseph Zeballos-Roig]
- The biggest disagreements between the parties may be over how to finance the package. In addition to repealing the 2017 tax cuts, Biden wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and on corporations — something Republicans will likely be uniformly opposed to. [CNBC / Thomas Franck]
| | | | - The European Union's already-slow vaccine rollout has hit a major roadblock. Several member countries have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as the continent experiences its third wave. [The New York Times / Marc Santora and Monika Pronczuk]
- Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, as well as other countries, suspended the use of the vaccine after some reports of some recipients developing blood clots. AstraZeneca says 37 people have reported blood clots of over 17 million people vaccinated in the UK and EU. [The Associated Press / Frank Jordans]
- In Italy, government officials have seized over 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a criminal investigation occurs. [Newsweek / Natalie Colarossi]
- The European Medicines Agency issued a statement saying the benefits of receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine strongly outweigh the risks, saying there is no evidence it causes blood clots. The complications were very rare and seen at the same rate in the non-vaccinated population as they were among vaccinated people. [The Washington Post / Erin Cunningham and Derek Hawkins]
- The World Health Organization agreed with the EMA's finding. Experts worry that as cases surge across Europe, suspending vaccination campaigns will just increase disease and death associated with the coronavirus. [Reuters]
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