Mike Allen thinks so, and writes up his thoughts in the Axios house style:
President Biden told Republican senators he has “an open door and an open mind” on his $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan. But he already has the votes, and overwhelming support in the country.
Why it matters: Well, power matters. And Biden holds all of it.
Get used to this. Democrats are gleeful as they watch the media fixate on family feuds inside the GOP, while Biden pushes out executive orders and pushes through this bill on his terms.
What’s the hold-up, then? Pass a bill.
Or maybe matters are a bit less certain, just as Yuval Levin wrote here earlier today. Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) has been a vocal critic of the $15 minimum wage included in Biden’s proposal. Whether the proposal qualifies to be included in a reconciliation bill that can be passed by a simple majority in the Senate has yet to be determined.
It passed the House with 231 votes in 2019, but there were eleven more Democrats in the body back then. Polling about a $15 minimum wage has indeed been very positive — Allen refers to a Quinnipiac finding that 61 percent of the public backs it — but polls have previously found that support falls when voters are asked about the possibility of job losses or the alternative of varying the minimum wage by state, which suggests that officials with misgivings about a federal increase need not be intimidated by the strength of support for it.
I think articles such as the one in Axios are part of an effort to increase the chance that the Biden White House gets its way. But I still think it’s going to be harder than the spin suggests — and yes, we should get used to it.