Vox Sentences - Can Dems get it done?

The US House of Representatives is set to vote on two major spending bills Friday; Tigrayan rebel forces gain allies as they head toward the Ethiopian capital.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Ellen Ioanes.

Reconciliation and infrastructure bills might finally come up for a vote

Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

• Both of President Joe Biden’s centerpiece spending bills are projected to come up for a vote in Congress on Friday, after months of haggling over the cost of the larger Build Back Better Act, also known as the reconciliation bill. Both bills rely heavily on Democratic support in a sharply divided Congress. [CNN / Clare Foran and Daniela Diaz]
• If both bills come up for a vote in the House, Democrats will be much closer to fulfilling ambitious policy goals on infrastructure, health care, climate change, and other liberal priorities. The reconciliation bill in particular has been a difficult sell to moderate Democrats balking at the high price tag, but progressives in the House say they won’t pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill if leadership can’t get votes for the reconciliation bill. [WSJ / Andrew Duehren and Natalie Andrews]
• The infrastructure bill passed with bipartisan support in the Senate in August; if it passes on Friday, it will head to Biden’s desk for his signature. That bill not only designates funds to repair the nation’s crumbling highways and bridges, but also invests in climate change mitigation, improving infrastructure in underserved communities, and providing broadband access to low-income areas. [NYT]
• The Build Back Better legislation has been significantly pared down due to the influence of moderate Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), from $3.5 trillion to about $1.85 trillion. If that bill passes the House, it will head to the Senate, where every Democratic vote will be necessary to pass it. [Politico / Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine]
• But it faces hurdles in the House, where moderate members want to see the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the bill’s cost and deficit impact. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues on Thursday night assuring them that the reconciliation bill was paid for; Democrats can only afford to lose three votes in the House. [Roll Call / Jessica Wehrman, Suzanne Monyak, and Joseph Morton]
• Congressional Democrats have been spurred into action by a spate of losses on Election Day, which could portend trouble for the party during the 2022 midterm elections. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said he wants both bills passed by the Thanksgiving holiday, in an effort to show voters that the Biden administration is moving forward on its priorities. [Reuters / David Morgan, Susan Cornwell, and Jeff Mason]

Tigrayan forces pick up new allies on march toward Addis Ababa

• The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, has picked up support from the Oromo Liberation Army and seven other rebel groups in its advance on the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. It’s the latest development in the year-long civil war between the regime of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the TPLF, a rebel group that used to be in control of the central government. [AP / Cara Anna and Nomaan Merchant]
• Earlier in the week, the TPLF captured two strategic cities on the road to Addis Ababa. Now, they could attempt to take back power in the capital or attempt to force Abiy into negotiations to wind down attacks on the Tigray region and allow humanitarian aid into Tigray. [Reuters / Katharine Houreld]
• In response, Abiy has called upon former soldiers for the Ethiopian national army to take up arms and fight against rebel forces. On Thursday, Abiy promised that the central government would “bury the enemy with our blood and bones.” [BBC]
• US envoy to the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman and other diplomats have met with the Abiy administration in the hope of heading off further chaos. The US government has also begun levying sanctions against the central government in an effort to force both sides into negotiation. [ABC / Conor Finnegan]

The US October jobs report shows more than half a million jobs were added last month, a sign that the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis is picking up after a summer slump. [WSJ / Josh Mitchell]

• Fed chair Jerome Powell announced the central bank’s plan to taper purchases of government bonds, another sign that the economy is rebounding. [NYT / Jeanna Smialek]
• Pfizer’s new pill is 89 percent effective against severe illness and death from Covid-19, the company announced Friday. [AP / Matthew Perrone]
• Portugal’s parliament voted in favor of physician-assisted euthanasia for the terminally ill and severely injured. [Politico / Paul Ames]

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“The people in power can continue to live in their bubble filled with their fantasies, like eternal growth on a finite planet and technological solutions that will suddenly appear seemingly out of nowhere and will erase all of these crises just like that. All this while the world is literally burning, on fire, and while the people living on the front lines are still bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.”

[Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, leading climate action protests during the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on government inaction on the climate crisis]

Sean Illing talks with John McWhorter, linguist, New York Times columnist, and author of Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America about the societal implications of the way we talk — and don’t talk — about racism. [Spotify]

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