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Joe Biden presenting his infrastructure package
Photo: Evan Vucci / AP
US President Joe Biden's billion dollar plans to modernize his country's welfare system and infrastructure are jeopardized by disputes in his own party.
Nine Democratic MPs protested Friday in a letter to House Chairwoman Nancy Pelosi against the proposed roadmap for passing the relevant legislative packages.
These parliamentarians, who belong to the moderate wing of the party, are demanding that their Congress Chamber first vote on the infrastructure program and only then on the general budget, in a reversal of the order previously envisaged by their party colleague Pelosi.
The social reforms are to be built into the budget law.
The nine Democrats threatened to refuse to approve the budget if the infrastructure law was not passed beforehand.
Because of the narrow majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives, the budget law would fail without the approval of these MPs.
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Dispute between the left and the moderate wing of the party
Originally, Biden wanted the two major reform projects to be passed by Congress in direct connection.
But for months there has been a dispute between the left and the moderate wing of the party over the content and schedule of the projects.
Pelosi accommodated the left by moving the budget forward in the order of the votes.
The left in the Democratic Party fear that the House of Representatives' approval of the social reforms could be jeopardized by a lack of support from the moderate wing if the infrastructure program has already been decided.
The moderates have reservations about the gigantic volume of the budget, which envisages total expenditure of 3.5 trillion dollars (almost three trillion euros).
The nine parliamentarians therefore demand that priority be given to the infrastructure program because of its importance for economic growth and the creation of new jobs.
Senate has already passed the infrastructure package
The $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure package was approved by the Senate - the other Chamber of Congress - on Tuesday. The law provides for huge investments in the modernization of roads, bridges and waterways. In addition, every US citizen should have access to the Internet. The law also contains measures to combat climate change. However, these do not go far enough for the left wing of the Democrats.
The Senate also approved a resolution on the budget with a very narrow majority on Wednesday, which sets the framework for the budget.
The social reforms planned for this include parental leave, continued payment of wages in the event of illness, expansion of day-care facilities, elimination of tuition fees at certain public universities and an expansion of the state health insurance Medicare.
tfb / AFP