Democrats call for votes to pass $ 3.5 trillion budget plan

“I cannot in good conscience vote to start the reconciliation process unless we also finish our work on the infrastructure bill,” she wrote.

Members of the group said they believe they are doing what Mr Biden wants, citing comments he made this year calling on Congress to pass the infrastructure bill as quickly as possible. This view angered many administration officials, who say the president never approved moving the infrastructure deal or budget plan ahead of the other.

Mr. Biden “made it clear that he wanted both invoices on his desk and was anxious to sign each one,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in an emailed statement. “He supports President Pelosi’s approach to the rule, as it provides for a review of the Build Back Better program, the landmark bipartisan infrastructure bill and critical voting rights legislation.”

Administration officials who have called the nine Democrats in recent days include Martin J. Walsh, the Labor Secretary; Jennifer M. Granholm, the Energy Secretary; Tom Vilsack, the secretary of agriculture; Shalanda Young, acting head of the White House Management and Budget Office; Louisa Terrell, director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs; and Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council.

Officials have sought to allay moderates’ fears that Mr. Biden will sign the larger spending bill without the infrastructure bill, according to a person familiar with the calls; they also expressed support for pressure from Ms Pelosi to pass the two bills by October 1. Some officials have pointed to the benefits of a larger bill, including proposals to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Ms Pelosi and her top MPs, backed by dozens of progressive lawmakers, remain equally adamant that the vote on infrastructure will only take place after the Senate approves the budget. In a series of open letters to members over the past week, senior Democrats have presented a vote in favor of the budget plan as a chance to shape key legislation and ensure passage of party priorities.

“Ensuring a bicameral reconciliation process, with genuine input from the House ahead of the passage of bipartisan infrastructure legislation, is essential to advancing critical Democratic priorities on infrastructure and more,” wrote Representative Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a scathing critic of the bipartisan agreement.