President Biden declared during the campaign that he would repeal the Trump tax cuts on “day one,” but after more than a month in office, some key Democratic lawmakers say they are reluctant to raise taxes during an economic slowdown, The Hill reports.

“House Democratic leaders are quietly mounting a campaign for Shalanda Young, a longtime congressional aide, to replace Neera Tanden as nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget,” Axios reports.

“The nascent campaign for Young, who would be OMB’s first Black female leader, reflects a stark reality taking hold in the Democratic Party: Tanden’s prospects are rapidly fading.”

If Neera Tanden withdraws from consideration to be President Joe Biden’s budget director, the American Prospect reports that Gene Sperling — who served as head of the National Economic Council for both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — could take her place.

Vox has a fantastic summary of the major aspects of the Covid relief bill that Congressional Democrats are hoping to pass through budget reconciliation in March.

New York Times: “As top Democrats continued to push a $1.9 trillion economic aid package through the House, some lawmakers and aides to President Biden raised the prospect of borrowing even more money to finance the president’s next set of spending plans, on infrastructure, buoyed by new projections that showed the nation’s fiscal picture was not as dire as officials feared in the fall.”

A key line on the administration’s thinking on infrastructure: “Mr. Biden proposed tax increases to pay for those plans during the campaign, but in recent days, some of his economic aides have hinted privately that some or all of the infrastructure package could be deficit financed.”

Doyle McManus: “Biden and his advisors say two experiences during the administration of Barack Obama have shaped their actions. One is the economic stimulus bill of 2009, which they trimmed to $787 billion in hopes of winning GOP support. The measure wasn’t big enough to jump-start the economy, and unhappy voters revolted against Democrats in the 2010 midterm election.”

“The second experience was Obama’s fruitless search for bipartisan support on his healthcare legislation in 2010, a months-long quest that nearly torpedoed the entire bill. Biden said it was ‘an easy choice’ to avoid similar negotiations this time.”

“His calculation is straightforward: In 2022, voters are more likely to remember whether he delivered enough aid to revive the economy than whether the bill passed with Republican votes.”

“Senior Democrats on Monday will unveil legislation to provide $3,000 per child to tens of millions of American families, aiming to make a major dent in child poverty as part of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic relief package,” the Washington Post reports.

“It also comes days after Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) surprised policymakers with a proposal to send even more in direct cash per child to American families, lending bipartisan support to the major push for child benefits.”

“The Senate approved a budget bill early Friday that paves the way for passage of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, with Vice President Harris casting the tiebreaking vote on the measure that will be key to enacting Biden’s first major legislative initiative,” the Washington Post reports.

“Passage of the budget bill by a 51-to-50 vote came just after 5:30 a.m. Friday, after an all-night Senate session during which senators plowed through dozens of amendments in a chaotic process known as a ‘vote-a-rama.’ Democrats cheered the progress on measures to address the pandemic, while Republicans complained of partisanship and excessive spending.”

Axios: “The resolution will now go back to the House for final approval, at which point committees be allowed to begin writing the bill.”

The Senate passsed the Democrats’ budget resolution, 50 to 49, paving the way to pass President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package using reconciliation.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) was absent so Vice President Kamala Harris did not need to break the tie.

“When we had a Republican president and House and Senate, we kept on spending massively and adding almost a trillion dollars a year to the national debt. Now we say this is outrageous adding so much to the debt? They say we did the same thing when we were in charge. It does show that you have to be consistent in your arguments.”

— Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune.