Challenges ahead

It’s a week of victories for Biden [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( President Joe Biden started the week with a win: a signing ceremony for his $550 billion infrastructure measure aimed at modernizing America’s roads, bridges and airports. He’s poised to end it with another victory: House passage of a broader $1.64 trillion tax-and-spending bill. After months of internal squabbling, House Democrats are on track to pass the legislation today, even after Republican leader Kevin McCarthy delayed a vote with a more than eight-hour floor speech that wrapped just after 5 a.m. in Washington. It’s much-needed success for a president grappling with slumping approval ratings, a persistent pandemic, supply-chain disruptions ahead of the start of the Christmas shopping season, and Republican criticism about inflation that polls indicate is gaining resonance among Americans. Key Reading - [Biden Bill Heads to Friday Vote as McCarthy Delays Passage]( - [SALT Analysis Finds Little Middle-Class Help in Congress’s Plans]( - [Warren Claims at Least 70 Companies to Be Hit by New Minimum Tax]( - [Republicans Riding High Into 2022 Elections Wary of Trump Factor]( - [Biden Says Infrastructure Law Hits at ‘Kitchen Table’ Issues]( Yet the legislation still faces numerous hurdles in a Senate split along party lines. And even if Biden’s able to see it over the finish line, it’s uncertain whether the economic agenda — which represents a massive increase in federal spending — ends up being an asset or a liability for Democrats in the midterm elections a year from now that will determine control of Congress. Comparisons are already being made to 2010, when a backlash against then-President Barack Obama’s signature health care law helped sweep Republicans to power in the House in one of the worst drubbings for Democrats on record. Twelve years on, Obamacare is widely popular, but Democrats paid the price in the short term. And they may again. — [Kathleen Hunter]( Biden speaks about his infrastructure package in Woodstock, New Hampshire, on Tuesday. Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images [Click here]( for this week’s most compelling political images and share this newsletter with others too. They can sign up [here](. Global Headlines Deepening crisis | Austria is entering its fourth nationwide [lockdown](, while neighboring Germany may consider a similar measure as Covid-19 infections accelerate. Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg also announced compulsory Covid vaccinations starting in February. Check out our rolling [update]( on the spreading pandemic as the stage is set for a grim Christmas in Europe. Brexit standoff | The European Union will get a fresh chance today to see whether the U.K. is wavering in its insistence that it’s ready as ever to take unilateral actions in post-Brexit negotiations over Northern Ireland. Read our [analysis]( on how a deal on medicines would give impetus to the wider talks and temper fears that the U.K. might quit the talks and trigger a trade war. - The U.K. preparations for a no-deal Brexit took “significant time and resources” in a [distraction]( from planning for a potential pandemic, Britain’s National Audit Office says. Money run | French right-wing journalist Eric Zemmour is beating a trail to London and its wealthy French financiers as he looks for cash to bankroll a potential run in April’s presidential election. Two London-based French executives said in [interviews]( they’re interested in meeting Zemmour, who has been accused of racial hatred for his anti-Islamic pronouncements, and one expressed interest in potentially funding his campaign. With inflation [flaring](, American white-collar workers have an edge in year-end salary discussions, though it may prove tough to secure raises that outpace surging prices. At the same time, an insatiable demand for labor, coupled with record resignation rates and barely changing supply, has fueled wage bumps particularly for hospitality and other lower-paid jobs. Modi U-turn | Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will [scrap]( three controversial farm laws that ignited angry street protests last year, in one of his biggest policy reversals since assuming power in 2014. Modi’s announcement comes ahead of key provincial polls in agriculture-heavy Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where the demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of farmers could have hurt his party’s chances. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Peng Shuai Email Sends a Disturbing Message: Matthew Brooker]( - [Farmers’ Fury Trumps Modi’s Strongman Style: Ruth Pollard]( - [The Great Resignation Is Great for Low-Paid Workers: Justin Fox]( Desperate measures | From his jail cell in Georgia, former President Mikheil Saakashvili is [pleading]( with the U.S. for help as he warns the former Soviet republic is turning away from the pro-Western path he set it on 18 years ago. [Marc Champion]( and [Helena Bedwell]( report exclusively on the scrawled, handwritten messages sent by Saakashvili, who is seven weeks into a hunger strike. Bloomberg TV and Radio air Balance of Power with [David Westin]( weekdays from 12 to 1pm ET, with a second hour on Bloomberg Radio from 1 to 2pm ET. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here]( or check out prior episodes and guest clips [here](. News to Note - Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton predicted Washington would remove some punitive tariffs on China, while also urging the world to prevent military [aggression]( by Beijing and criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin. - President Xi Jinping’s government faces a [dilemma]( over the outcry about tennis star Peng Shuai, whose disappearance could set back China’s efforts to improve its international reputation and renew boycott threats ahead of the Winter Olympics. - Faster [action]( is needed to move coal-dependent nations to less-polluting alternatives, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum today. - A cleaner employed for years by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has been indicted on charges of [espionage]( linked to Iran. - A state election in Malaysia tomorrow could help [disgraced]( former premier Najib Razak and his pro-Malay party rebuild power ahead of a general election due in 2023. Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Which nation allegedly blasted a satellite out of orbit, spewing debris and raising claims it endangered crew members on the International Space Station? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... A new study in the journal Science identifies a female seafood seller in Wuhan, China, as the earliest known case of the Covid-19 infection. As [Jason Gale]( explains, research by Michael Worobey, head of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, [points]( to the Huanan market as the source of the initial outbreak and not just where the SARS-CoV-2 virus was amplified in a super-spreading event. The Huanan food market in Wuhan. Source: Getty Images Like Balance of Power? [Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com](, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters. 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