Biden fails to break the Democratic stalemate, and key House infrastructure vote is postponed

Pelosi and Biden have been trying to win support for the infrastructure bill among progressives, who say they will not vote for it unless the House is also ready to pass a sweeping budget reconciliation bill to expand the social safety net and climate policy.

But fundamental parts of that bill are still being debated in the Senate. House progressives are worried that if they vote to pass an infrastructure bill championed by moderates, they will lose any leverage they have in pushing these same moderates to back a transformative budget bill later on.

Progressives also insist that any budget reconciliation bill be at least $3 trillion, and include provisions like free preschool and community college, child-care subsidies and an expansion of Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing care.

But on Thursday, Manchin released a signed agreement he reached with Schumer more than two months ago in July that spells out what Manchin would support in a budget bill.

The maximum topline spending that Manchin would vote for is $1.5 trillion.

As of Thursday night, progressives and Manchin still appeared to be more than $1 trillion apart.

But as Pelosi left the Capitol, she told reporters, “We’re not trillions of dollars apart.” She did not elaborate on where the two sides had found common ground.

Pelosi’s iron-willed optimism stands in contrast to some of her colleagues’ more hard-nosed assessments about the bipartisan infrastructure bill’s chances.

On Thursday, a journalist asked House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Pelosi’s deputy, what he thought the odds were of passing the infrastructure bill Thursday night.

“Are you confident it will pass?”  

“Nope,” Hoyer replied.

Still, many on Capitol Hill are betting that in the end, Pelosi will nail down the votes she needs to pass the infrastructure bill.

Her ability to find consensus within an often fractious Democratic caucus is legendary, and she appeared to relish the high stakes and ticking clock Thursday.

“Let me just tell you about negotiating at the end,” Pelosi said to reporters. “That’s when you really have to weigh in. You cannot tire. You cannot concede. This is the fun part.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/30/house-infrastructure-vote-on-schedule-for-thursday-pelosi-says-.html