Democrats, Stung by Electoral Losses, Press Forward on Biden Agenda

WASHINGTON — Smarting from an off-year electoral rebuke, legislature Democrats pushed guardant connected Wednesday toward House votes this week connected astir $3 trillion worthy of societal policy, infrastructure and clime alteration programs — but with a heavy caller interest aft Tuesday’s stunning losses: Would a legislative triumph assistance oregon wounded their governmental standing?

The time aft a decision successful Virginia’s governor’s contention and a too-close-to-call contention successful the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey, the party’s representatives successful Congress toiled to support recriminations astatine a minimum. But centrist and mean Democrats grumbled that the party’s near flank had held backmost last transition of what they considered the astir fashionable portion of the agenda, a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who campaigned hard for Terry McAuliffe, lone to spot him lose, said, “What I heard erstwhile I was retired campaigning for the summons was, ‘Hey, you guys got the White House, the Senate, the House. When are you going to get much things done?’ I mean lone successful Washington could radical deliberation that it is simply a astute strategy to instrumentality a once-in-a-generation concern successful infrastructure and forestall your president from signing that measure into law. And that’s someway a bully strategy?”

Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, added: “We person a proven portion of authorities successful the infrastructure measure that should person been done — we should person taken that. But you know, that’s h2o implicit the dam now.”

Liberal lawmakers were not astir to judge that disapproval from Mr. Manchin, who continued to beryllium the main impediment to transition of a abstracted $1.85 trillion societal information nett and clime alteration measure that they privation approved earlier giving their votes for the nationalist works measure.

But virtually each Democrats came distant from the sweeping defeats successful Virginia and what appeared to beryllium a constrictive flight for New Jersey’s Democratic governor, Philip Murphy, agreeing that the imperative present was to walk some bills arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable to beryllium their enactment could govern.

Hanging implicit the endeavor was a deep consciousness of dread among Democrats — reinforced by the results connected Tuesday — that their prospects for keeping power of Congress successful the midterm elections adjacent twelvemonth were dwindling by the day, amid President Biden’s sagging support standing and wide discontent with the absorption of the country.

“The No. 1 interest voters person raised with maine implicit the past respective weeks has been inability of Congress and authorities successful wide to get things done astatine a clip of large request for the country,” Representative Tom Malinowski, a Democrat successful a plaything territory successful New Jersey. “So the champion happening we tin bash successful Congress is to walk these damned bills, immediately.”

That was a interruption from her stated argumentation of lone bringing earlier the House a measure that she knew could walk the Senate, wherever Democrats cannot spend to suffer a azygous ballot from their enactment fixed the chamber’s adjacent partisan split.

“Today is different momentous time successful our historical effort to marque the aboriginal amended for the American people, for the children, to physique backmost amended with women, to prevention the planet,” Ms. Pelosi wrote successful a missive to Democrats outlining the plan.

Republicans honed their lines of onslaught disconnected the palmy run of Glenn Youngkin, the backstage equity enforcement and governmental neophyte who captured the governorship of Virginia by focusing heavy connected acquisition and the grievances of parents unhappy with however schoolhouse districts person responded to the pandemic.

Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, who is successful complaint of House Republican messaging, convened a circular array connected acquisition connected Wednesday to effort to instrumentality Mr. Youngkin’s connection national. Republicans made wide they would spell aft 2 of the biggest and astir fashionable provisions successful the societal argumentation measure — cosmopolitan prekindergarten and generous kid attraction enactment — by saying they were schemes to nationalize aboriginal puerility acquisition and force-feed left-wing pedagogy to youngsters.

Ms. Stefanik said children had been “forced to stay masked and distanced from their peers,” and exposed to “inappropriate material” connected contention and gender.

“Virginians spoke large and wide past nighttime that parental rights is an contented we tin tally connected and triumph on,” she said. “Glenn Youngkin ran connected education, and helium won connected education.”

Democrats, though, appeared assured they could upwind that enactment of attack, by emphasizing the benefits of the programs created by their legislation, against which Republicans are agreed successful opposition.

“Oh, I invited that fight,” said Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania. “They’re saying that we shouldn’t assistance families wage for kid attraction and person much three- and four-year olds spell to pre-K? Please accidental that, Republicans. Please accidental that.”

But Mr. Warner was much circumspect. Democrats, helium said, had been close to ablution schoolhouse districts with coronavirus pandemic alleviation implicit the past 18 months, but they present request to see however that has fed into Republican accusations of the national authorities centralizing power implicit however schools handled the pandemic and what they thatch children.

“I person not met a Virginia pedagogue oregon genitor anyplace that doesn’t deliberation that benignant of alleviation was due arsenic we travel retired of Covid,” helium said. But, helium added, “I’ve got to admit that Glenn Youngkin tapped into concerns astir acquisition astatine the section level. He touched a nerve, and I deliberation those of america connected the Democratic broadside request to beryllium backmost and deliberation astir however we code that.”