众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)周三在给同事的一封信中宣布，民主党人将把带薪探亲假和病假重新纳入其庞大的社会支出法案，但不久之后，民主党参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)称这一举措是“挑战”
民主党人最初要求休假12周，但在上周民主党参议员曼钦提出担忧后，休假时间被缩短至4周，然后被完全取消。
现在，佩洛西说它又回到了法案中，一位熟悉的消息人士向美国广播公司新闻证实，这将是为期四周的带薪探亲假和病假。
然而，在参议院方面，一位消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，增加带薪家庭假和病假“还远未实现”——佩洛西在她的“亲爱的同事”中承认上议院面临障碍信。
她写道:“因为一位参议员告诉我，我反对我们法案中包含的一些优先事项，并且因为我们必须让众议院和参议院在我们将提交给总统的《重建更美好法案》的最终版本中同意立法，我们必须努力在立法中找到共同点。
周三早上走进国会大厦，佩洛西告诉记者，她对民主党在弗吉尼亚州州长竞选中的失败感到“非常难过”，但她说，他的失败并没有改变民主党在众议院的议程，也不是推动恢复带薪休假措施的原因。
与此同时，曼钦没有明确表示，如果包括带薪休假，他将投票反对该方案。但在周三消息浮出水面后不久，当被问及此事时，他表示，他仍然强烈反对将其纳入和解方案——参议院民主党人正在利用这一进程来避免共和党的阻挠，但这一策略需要包括曼钦在内的所有50名民主党人的投票。他告诉记者，他不知道新宣布的将它纳入一揽子计划的计划，但众议院的同事们熟悉他对此的立场。
“我只是认为这是一个错误的地方，因为这是一个社会扩张，”曼钦告诉记者，重复了他对成本的担忧。他担心“欠下更多的债务，基本上把更多我们无力支付的社会项目放到我们现在有问题的地方。”
马萨诸塞州民主党众议员理查德·尼尔。众议院筹款委员会主席比尔·盖茨在一份声明中说，带薪探亲假和病假将全额支付，而且要经过经济状况调查。
他在周三的一份声明中写道:“我们负责任地这样做，为经济状况调查项目支付全部费用。
纽约州参议员柯尔斯顿·吉利布兰德(Kirsten Gillibrand)是参议院家庭带薪休假努力的主要支持者，她告诉美国广播公司新闻，她“对法案的重新通过感到非常兴奋”，并计划就此与曼钦交谈。
“我认为，议长佩洛西已经决定，国家和工人能够反弹是至关重要的，我相信议长。我相信她的判断，”吉利布兰德说。
然而，曼钦几天来一直表示，他对医疗保险和医疗补助计划的破产感到担忧，周一他表示，在带薪休假等项目之外的社会扩张是“令人向往的”。
虽然他最终表示支持带薪休假，但他说，他希望在一项单独的法案中，而不是在和解中，看到带薪休假得以实现。
曼钦说:“我们正试图通过和解来迫使它，和解有护栏、有规章制度。让我们做这件事，把它做好，不要这样做。"
进步人士表示，他们相信乔·拜登总统会兑现他在参议院就更大的社会支出和气候法案承诺的51张选票，拜登在周二的一次演讲中预测曼钦会支持这一点，尽管曼钦表达了新的担忧。
曼钦周三表示，众议院最终将“做众议院做的事情”，然后参议院将需要“故意”通过该法案
佩洛西说，社会支出计划的更新法案文本将于周三晚些时候发布，她预计众议院规则委员会将在当天晚些时候开会，就该立法进行辩论，并为众议院投票做准备。
佩洛西向众议院温和派发出了一个微妙的信息，他们要求至少72小时阅读法案文本，他还指出，文本最初是在六天前发布的，这意味着他们有足够的时间阅读。
根据佩洛西的信，很明显民主党领导层打算对参议院已经通过的两党基础设施法案和民主党计划本周通过的社会支出法案进行投票。
Pelosi says Democrats adding paid family leave back into social spending bill, fate in Senate unclear
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday that Democrats will add paid family and medical leave back into their large social spending bill, but soon after, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin called the move a "challenge."
Democrats had initially called for 12 weeks of leave but it was cut down to four before being dropped altogether last week after Sen, Manchin, D-W.Va., raised concerns.
Now, Pelosi is saying it's back in the bill with a source familiar confirming to ABC News it will be four weeks of paid family and medical leave.
However, from the Senate side, a source told ABC News the addition of paid family and medical leave is "far from reality yet" -- and Pelosi acknowledges obstacles ahead in the upper chamber in her "Dear Colleague"letter.
"Because I have been informed by a Senator of opposition to a few of the priorities contained in our bill and because we must have legislation agreed to by the House and the Senate in the final version of the Build Back Better Act that we will send to the President's desk, we must strive to find common ground in the legislation," she wrote.
Walking into the Capitol Wednesday morning, Pelosi told reporters that she is "very sad" over Democrats' loss in the Virginia governor's race but said his loss does not change Democrats' agenda in the House and is not the reason for the push to bring back the paid leave measure.
Manchin, meanwhile, did not explicitly say he would vote against the package if paid leave is included. But when asked about it shortly after word surfaced on Wednesday, he said he remains strongly opposed to it being included in the reconciliation package -- a process Senate Democrats are using to avoid a Republican filibuster, but a tactic that requires all 50 Democratic votes, including Manchin's. He told reporters he was unaware of the newly announced plans to include it in the package, but that House colleagues were familiar with his position on it.
"I just think it's the wrong place to put it because it is a social expansion," Manchin told reporters, repeating his concerns about the cost. He worries about "getting more debt and basically putting more social programs that we can't pay for that we're having problems with now."
Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement that paid family and medical leave will be fully paid for, and it is means-tested.
"We do this responsibly, fully paying for the means-tested program," he wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., the lead sponsor of the family paid leave effort in the Senate, told ABC News she's "very excited it's back in the bill" and that she plans to speak to Manchin on it.
"Speaker Pelosi, I think, has decided it's essential for the country and for workers to be able to rebound, and I trust the Speaker. I trust her judgment," Gillibrand said.
Manchin, however, has for days said he's concerned about insolvency in Medicare and Medicaid, and on Monday he said social expansion beyond those programs, for things like paid leave, is "aspirational".
While he ultimately said he supports paid leave, he said he wants to see it shepherded through in a separate bill, not in reconciliation.
"We're trying to force it through reconciliation which has guardrails and rules and regulations," Manchin said. Let's do it and do it right and not do it in this."
Progressives have said they trust President Joe Biden to deliver 51 Senate votes he promised on the larger social spending and climate bill, and Biden predicted Manchin would support that in a speech on Tuesday, despite Manchin expressing new concerns.
Manchin said on Wednesday that the House will ultimately "do what the House does" and then the Senate will need to work through the bill "deliberately."
Pelosi said updated bill text for the social spending plan will be released later Wednesday, and she anticipates the House Rules Committee will meet later in the day to debate the legislation and prepare it for votes on the House floor.
In a subtle message to House moderates, who are demanding at least 72 hours to read the bill text, Pelosi also noted that text was initially released six days ago, meaning they've had plenty of time to read up.
Based on Pelosi's letter, it's clear Democratic leadership intends to vote on both the already Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill and the social spending bill Democrats plan to pass through reconciliation this week.
