Democrats Urge Final Push on Stalled Agenda to Limit Possible Midterm Losses

Progressive and centrist lawmakers lobby Biden and party leaders for action on student loans and drug prices as GOP gains in polls

By Eliza Collins and Andrew Restuccia (WSJ) Apr. 22, 2022

WASHINGTON—Rank-and-file Democrats are pressing President Biden and congressional leaders to take quick action when lawmakers return to work next week, as they hope even modest policy moves can help temper expected Republican gains in the midterm elections.

Lawmakers are pushing leaders on issues ranging from student-loan forgiveness to lowering the cost of prescription drugs, steps they argue can shore up households shaken by rising inflation and economic uncertainty that Republicans have blamed on Mr. Biden. Some proposals have broad support within the party, but others have divided progressives and moderates, with each wing making different arguments about what will energize or repel voters in November.

As the party debates where to place its bets, the White House has taken a series of executive actions—some incremental and some more substantial—on issues including energy.

With polls pointing to possible deep losses in November, many Democrats said they were eager to show voters they can get more things done, after Mr. Biden’s $2 trillion healthcare, education and climate-change agenda stalled in the 50-50 Senate late last year.

“Pick a couple of them and just deliver them,” said progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), who sees young activists being discouraged by the lack of progress on liberal priorities. “That means getting done the student-debt relief—that is so obvious, that is such a no-brainer.”

Mr. Biden has backed legislation to cancel $10,000 of student debt for all borrowers, but he has expressed skepticism about taking unilateral action without Congress.

White House officials said the president is now weighing whether to take executive action to cancel some student debt on a large scale, amid pressure from prominent Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.). Mr. Biden’s advisers are divided over the issue, according to people familiar with the matter, and the president hasn’t yet made a decision on how to proceed.

Such a measure would provide relief to many households, but critics say it could be unfair to borrowers who have paid off their loans, and relief could be skewed toward middle- and upper-income households.

The Biden administration recently extended through Aug. 31 the pause on payments of federal student loans, and the Education Department has taken steps to widen eligibility for existing debt relief programs. Payments and interest accrual have been suspended for borrowers with federal student loans since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many Democrats are pushing for other moves, whether by Congress or the White House. In a New York Times opinion article, Ms. Warren warned of deep midterm losses unless Democrats move on their agenda, including student-debt relief, lowering drug prices and reviving a slimmed-down healthcare and climate bill, among other items.

While many progressives want executive action, centrist Democrats say the focus should be on passing bipartisan legislation that can be signed into law, such as a bill designed to help the U.S. compete with China.

“My hope is that we will really be thoughtful between now and the [next] Congress and put forward bills that have a path in the Senate,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D., Va.), who is in a competitive race. She also cited bipartisan legislation to address supply-chain issues and another aimed at giving resources to police departments for community policing.

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In a report out Wednesday, Dave Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted more House seats toward Republicans and said even districts Mr. Biden won by double-digit margins in 2020 could be in play for Republicans.

Any new action by Democrats is “not likely to work unless voters are feeling better about the economy come October and November,” he said in an interview.

Several Democratic strategists said they too were skeptical that the party could turn the tide of public opinion by pushing new policy proposals, but they added the effort could help limit losses.

Once Congress returns to work, Democrats say they hope to get the bipartisan China competition bill signed into law. In the coming weeks, they are preparing to make a final attempt at resurrecting elements of the healthcare, education and climate package, which included provisions designed to lower the price of some prescription drugs. Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), who scuttled the earlier bill in the Senate that all Republicans opposed, has said he could support a narrower package focused on climate and drug prices.

Representatives for Mr. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Leaders of the center-left New Democrat Coalition urged the president in a recent meeting to work with Congress to focus on the China legislation and a narrow social spending and climate bill, said Rep. Suzan DelBene (D., Wash.), the group’s chair. In a separate meeting, the Congressional Progressive Caucus urged the president to use executive orders if legislation stalled, said CPC Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.).

Republicans say Democrats are out of touch with the electorate and that new spending will add to inflation. They also say that many of Democrats’ proposed actions could actually undercut them at the polls. If Republicans were to win back Congress, “the message to the president would be quit all the left-wing stuff, move to the center and work on things you can agree on,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.).

On inflation, White House officials said they expect Mr. Biden to take additional executive action to address surging prices, including at the gasoline pump, if they remain high. So far, the administration has released oil from government reserves and allowed high-ethanol content gasoline to be sold in the summer months. The Biden administration also announced lease sales for oil and gas drilling on federal land. Prices averaged around $4.12 a gallon Thursday, according to AAA, down from $4.25 a month ago but well above $2.88 a year earlier.

White House officials have discussed calling for a suspension of the federal gas tax and sending prepaid gas cards to the public, people familiar with the matter said. Neither proposal has received signoff from the president. Mr. Biden’s advisers have privately expressed skepticism about suspending the gas tax, worrying that the savings would be minimal and might not be passed on to the consumer. Some Democratic lawmakers have also been cool to the idea.

As Mr. Biden ramps up his travel over the next few months, he plans to talk about the benefits of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that he signed into law late last year; emphasize lower unemployment and efforts to decrease costs for families; and address rising crime across the country, the officials said.

Some strategists said Democrats need to notch more victories to get people to turn out.

“We can’t run on a highway bill, that cannot be our whole thing,” said Karthik Ganapathy, a former staffer to independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign.

Andrew Duehren contributed to this article.