White House Says It’s ‘Always Gone To The Mat’ For Paid Leave Despite Leaving It Out Of BBB Framework

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 22: (L-R) Cedric Richmond, senior advisor to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, looks on as U.S. President Joe Biden meets with advisors, union and busin... WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 22: (L-R) Cedric Richmond, senior advisor to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, looks on as U.S. President Joe Biden meets with advisors, union and business leaders about infrastructure in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on July 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan could get another chance to move forward in the Senate on Monday. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond on Sunday maintained that the Biden administration is still “going to the mat” to have paid leave included in the Build Back Better plan, despite the provision’s omission from the White House’s reconciliation framework amid centrist Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) opposition.

During an interview on CBS, Richmond was asked to respond to President Biden’s remark to reporters on Saturday saying that “time will tell” whether four weeks of paid leave ends up in the reconciliation package.

Richmond stressed that the White House’s framework contains provisions that the President believes has the support of all 50 Democratic senators.

“And so community college didn’t make it. He cares about community colleges,” Richmond said. “So what’s more important is what’s in the plan, what’s not in the plan, and right now paid medical leave is in.”

Richmond then emphasized that the White House views paid family and paid medical leave as a “value proposition.”

“We know what families go through in this country when children and family members get sick. The President knows it personally. I know it personally. The administration knows it personally,” Richmond said. “We are for paid medical and family leave, and that’s why you see the President bringing so many senators down to the White House to make sure that it can stay in in the Senate. But right now, it does not have 50 votes in the Senate.”

Richmond went on to make clear that the White House has “always gone to the mat” for paid leave.

Despite Manchin’s refusal to commit to supporting paid leave in BBB, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has been hard at work to come to an agreement with the centrist senator on the provision. However, Manchin has argued that the reconciliation bill is not the place for paid leave, claimed that the Senate parliamentarian is the one standing in the way of the proposal, that the provision should mandate work requirements and that he can’t back it in the BBB unless there is bipartisan support for it.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made clear in a letter to the caucus last week that she asked the House Ways and Means committee to include their family and medical paid leave legislation in a hearing that was held on the reconciliation text.

Pelosi’s public showing of support for the proposal in BBB was followed by Democratic leaders’ announcement that four weeks of paid leave was re-attached to the measure.

The new proposal falls short of the 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave each year for every worker that was originally proposed. But as Democrats work to shave down the topline of the reconciliation package to appease Sens. Manchin and Krysten Sinema’s demands for a lower price tag, the White House began floating a four-week proposal last month that would target lower-income workers and expire after 3-4 years.

Watch Richmond’s remarks below:

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Notable Replies

  1. “Manchin has argued that the reconciliation bill is not the place for paid leave, claimed that the Senate parliamentarian is the one standing in the way of the proposal, that the provision should mandate work requirements, and that he can’t back it in the BBB unless there is bipartisan support for it.”

    “Also that only conjoined triplets be eligible, that it apply only to severe cheese allergies, and that it be called ‘Fribblecare’.”

  2. that the provision should mandate work requirements

    Let me get this straight. Manchin demands that if you are sick enough to be out of work (Covid, the flu, cancer, whatever), or having a baby, then by golly you should work through that benefit.

    Riiiiiight.

  3. Manchin has argued that the reconciliation bill is not the place for paid leave, claimed that the Senate parliamentarian is the one standing in the way of the proposal, that the provision should mandate work requirements

    I may not be the sharpest knife in the rack, but don’t you have to be employed to get paid leave? I mean if you’re a stay-at-home parent then you’re not getting paid now. Paid leave is a twofer, 1) it allows a new parent a certain amount of time to be with your baby, instead of using all of your vacation and sick leave, 2) it means that you don’t have to rush back to work because you need that paycheck.

    God almighty Manchin isn’t listening, or processing. Fuck he may just be an asshole, but damn does he sure step in it every single time.

  4. Avatar for kida kida says:

    This is not news. We (read: you, tpm) need to stop talking about this sausage making, intraparty squabbling bvllshit.

    The story is: Democrats are working to try to help people. Republicans are working to try to stop Democrats from helping people. That’s it

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