Washington Post:  “Congressional Democrats signaled Wednesday they are closing in on a long-elusive deal to overhaul the nation’s health care, education, climate and tax laws, setting in motion a tenuous new plan to try to advance President Biden’s broader economic agenda as soon as this week.  The frenetic day began with another burst of outreach, as Biden continued the arduous task of crafting a signature spending initiative that could unite his party’s ambitious liberals and its two moderate holdouts, Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

“Emerging from a roughly two-hour gathering with Biden’s aides on Capitol Hill, the centrist duo each pointed to ‘progress’ after months of deadlock over Democrats’ initial plans to spend $3.5 trillion financed through a slew of new tax increases. The architect of that original blueprint, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), soon paid his own visit to the White House, reflecting the White House’s shuttle diplomacy that for hours spanned Pennsylvania Avenue.

“Democrats appeared on the verge of clinching more than $500 billion in new money to combat climate change, even as they continued to hammer out some of the specifics. Some felt they were also closer to a temporary program to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income Americans. Even before Wednesday, the party had neared consensus over a slew of other programs to aid families, including expanded tax credits for parents and new, free and universal prekindergarten for their children.

“But the prospects of a deal also forced Democrats to begin making uncomfortable choices, as many initiatives were scaled back or jettisoned as a result of demands from Manchin and Sinema. That included a heavily supported promise — first aired by Biden during the 2020 campaign — to provide paid family and medical leave to millions of Americans. The proposal appeared to fall out of the bill entirely by late Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the talks, though they noted negotiations remain ongoing.

“The potential loss of the paid-leave benefits – which Manchin had opposed – left some Democrats seething. ‘We’re not going to let one man tell all the women in this country that they can’t have paid leave,’ said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a leading advocate for the proposal.”