Democrats are pushing for permanent monthly child tax credit payments. They might have to settle for a one-year extension.

As lawmakers work to scale back President Biden's $3.5 trillion social spending plan, a proposed extension of the monthly child tax credit payments passed by Democrats in the American Rescue Plan may be cut short. 

Democrats are trying to trim the Build Back Better bill to roughly $1.75 to $1.9 trillion because some centrist Democrats objected to its high price. As a result, the monthly payments tens of millions of families are receiving — adding up to as much as $3,600 annually per child — may only be extended for a year or two, instead of the additional four years advocated by the White House, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. Democrats need every single member in the Senate for the final legislation to pass since it is nearly certain they won't have any Republican support. 

Longtime child tax credit advocates, such Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, called a one-year extension a "very big mistake," and said Democrats could end up missing an opportunity to lift children out of poverty. DeLauro calls the expanded benefit "Social Security for children" and questioned why it should be treated differently from Social Security for seniors.