Vox Sentences - Tough week ahead for Democrats

Democrats face dual challenges in Congress; Germany’s center-left Social Democrats narrowly win election.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Democrats face deadlines on debt ceiling and passing Biden’s agenda

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

• President Joe Biden and the Democrats are facing challenges as they try to pass the massive $3.5 trillion infrastructure package and avoid defaulting on the debt ceiling; Republicans are refusing to cooperate on both fronts. [Reuters / Richard Cowan and David Morgan]
• Republicans are demanding that the Democrats raise the debt ceiling — how much the federal government can borrow — through the budget reconciliation process, which is also being used to pass Biden’s infrastructure package. But that process could add weeks Democrats don’t have to spare. [Politico / Caitlin Emma]
• The GOP isn’t the only challenge to Biden’s agenda — progressive and moderate Democrats are at odds over Biden’s infrastructure package. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delayed a Monday vote until Thursday to try to shore up divisions within the party. [Reuters / Susan Cornwell]
• If Congress defaults on its loans for the first time in history, it would likely be disastrous for global markets and the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, and a political liability for both parties in the upcoming midterm elections. The impact could be felt in salaries for the military, and for Americans who rely on the social safety net. [NYT / Jim Tankersley]
• Although both parties are aware that default could be a catastrophe, the partisan fight over the debt ceiling continues. Congress has raised or suspended the debt ceiling nearly 80 times since 1960. [AP / Josh Boak]
• Biden has the power to bypass Congress and end the debt ceiling through executive order, with four options, including introducing a trillion-dollar coin or invoking the 14th Amendment. While each choice holds some political risk, all of them are likely better than the country defaulting on its loans. [Vox / Dylan Matthews]
• It’s also unclear if Democrats passing Biden’s massive infrastructure plan and raising the debt ceiling would be a political win they can carry into next year’s midterms. Even with the passage of the Affordable Care Act that brought health insurance for millions of Americans, then-President Barack Obama and his party were trounced in the 2010 midterms. [CNN / Stephen Collinson]

Germany’s Social Democrats win election

• Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) narrowly won the federal election over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, but with both parties failing to garner close to a majority, questions remain about how the parties will govern in the future. [AP / Geir Moulson]
• In the final weeks of the campaign, SDP leader Olaf Scholz focused on respect for all members of German society despite social status, telling reporters that what’s most important is that no German believes that “they are better than the others.” [Atlantic / Yasmeen Serhan]
• The vote also saw the first transgender women elected to German parliament, as Tessa Ganserer and Nyke Slawik, both from the progressive Greens Party, won seats. The Greens placed third with 15 percent of the vote, the largest in the party’s history. [CBS News / Caitlin O’Kane]
• The parties must now form a coalition to govern in the months ahead. There are several coalition possibilities, but none is quite a natural fit. One more likely combo, the Social Democrats, Greens, and the centrist Free Democratic Party (FDP), might necessitate heavy concessions from the various factions. [Vox / Jen Kirby]

Support our journalism

President Joe Biden received a booster of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Monday during a televised event the White House hopes will encourage other eligible Americans who might be hesitant to get jabbed. [NPR / Alana Wise]

• Lava from a volcano on Spain’s La Palma island threatens to collide with the Atlantic Ocean, potentially creating explosions and imperiling nearby villages. [CNN / Al Goodman and Hannah Ritchie]
• Two cohosts of The View say they received false positive Covid-19 tests just moments before Vice President Kamala Harris was set to appear on the show last week. [AP / David Bauder]
• Experts predict challenges ahead as the Supreme Court, which begins its new term on October 4, faces low approval ratings. [Washington Post / Robert Barnes and Seung Min Kim]

“Republicans in Congress have spent a decade ushering in a new era where the prospect of default and a global economic meltdown has become a dangerous political football.” 

[Michael Gwin, a White House spokesperson, on how raising the debt ceiling has become a partisan game]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is exiting after 30 years in politics and 16 years as chancellor. The rise and fall of one of Europe’s most popular leaders, explained. [YouTube]

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