JUST IN: Senate Democrats to DROP Paid Family Leave From Spending Bill

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Senate Democrats are reportedly shelving yet another element of the big reconciliation package — paid family leave.

Politico reported Wednesday afternoon paid family and medical leave are being dropped because of opposition from Senator Joe Manchin (D- WV).

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), a long-time paid leave champ, negotiated with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) throughout the week to try and salvage some sort of scaled-down benefit, but those efforts proved unsuccessful on Wednesday.

Earlier this week Manchin said the proposal is one of “an awful lot of things” he’s concerned about.

Politico’s Eleanor Mueller reported it is being dropped “after attempts to drastically pare it down were deemed insufficient.”

Other elements of the bill were already scaled back amid negotiations with Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D- AZ), including a key component of the climate policy.

As of this posting, Senator Gillibrand said she’s still working to keep it in.

Until the bill is printed, I will continue working to include #PaidLeave in the #BuildBackBetter Agenda.

— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (@gillibrandny) October 27, 2021