This week, the Biden administration advanced an important correction to the Affordable Care Act, one that would have been fixed by President Biden’s big economic plan, had Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) not killed it. That fix will make health insurance more affordable for millions of families.
That was great. But the Congressional Progressive Caucus wants more, as do the Black Caucus and Hispanic Caucus. The Progressive Caucus, which has been fighting for Biden’s agenda since last spring, is urging the president to use his executive powers more broadly “to deliver greater equity and economic security for people across the country,” in the words of CPC chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). “Tremendous progress has been made, but that work is far from done,” said Jayapal in a statement announcing the group’s executive action agenda for the administration.
In crafting the list, the lawmakers looked at the precedent of executive orders from past presidents and would thus be likelier to withstand the inevitable Republican lawsuits that would follow. Jayapal told The Washington Post they considered which issues Democratic voters and activists would be willing “to fight for,” and were clear and straightforward because if the policies were “super wonky and detailed, it was probably going to be hard to explain.”
The slate of actions developed by the 98 members of the CPC addresses eight separate policy efforts and a total of 55 recommendations that agencies across government can take, and include “lowering health care costs, canceling federal student loan debt, expanding worker power and raising wages, advancing immigrants’ rights, delivering on the promise of equal justice under law, combatting the climate crisis and reducing fossil fuel dependence, investing in care economy jobs and standards, and regulating for economic and tax fairness.”
In the fact sheet released with the full agenda, the CPC lists three objectives:
- “Lower costs and raise wages for working people to provide urgently needed economic relief;
- “Advance racial and gender equity by investing in communities that have historically been neglected;
- “Deliver on our promises—on key progressive priorities, and on commitments that Democrats have made for decades, as well as those specific to the Biden agenda.”
While acknowledging that establishing these policies legislatively is the “best chance to deliver enduring relief,” the group argues that those promises need to be fulfilled quickly, and “this is the Democrats’ moment to deliver on the agenda that more than 81 million people voted for.” It’s not about “abandoning the legislation path,” they make clear. “It’s about realizing the promise of Democratic governance, and quickly—using all tools available to make it happen.”
The Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses are also developing recommendations, and should release them in the coming weeks. Expansion of voting rights and immigration system reforms will likely top their lists of actions.
“There will be motivation to come out and vote because we will have some more executive orders that we can do to move forward. Look, any which way, any way possible, is our mantra,” said Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA), chairman of the Hispanic caucus last week, referencing the encouragement of Latino turnout. The leadership of the Black Caucus has met with Biden to discuss their priorities for executive action. “We’ve talked about everything from including things in an executive order to breaking apart parts of what was in the police reform bill and putting it in another package,” Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), the caucus chairwoman, said last week.
“I do think we want to make sure that we’re delivering as much as we can before November, in addition to all the excellent things we’ve already done, and making sure people know what we’ve done,” Jayapal told the Post.
Related stories: