Democrats at odds over plan to tax billionaires to pay for Biden agenda

House lawmakers said the proposal to tax those with more than $1bn in assets or incomes of more than $100m a year was too complex to succeed

Senior Democrats in Congress were at odds on Wednesday over a proposal to tax billionaires' assets to help pay for Joe Biden's social and climate change agenda, leaving it unclear if the idea had enough support to become law.

Senate Democrats unveiled the new billionaires tax proposal earlier in the day, presenting it as an entirely new entry in the tax code designed to help pay for Biden's sweeping domestic policy package and edge his party closer to an overall agreement on a shrunken version of the administration's $3.5tn flagship legislation.