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“I am not independent. That’s the caucus consensus, ”Pelosi told members on the call, according to several people listening. “The votes in the House and the Senate depend on whether we have both bills.”
The remarks – made at the first caucus meeting since the Senate passed its infrastructure bill – boosted the confidence of progressives, who have long insisted Pelosi would keep his vow to keep the bill. bipartite Senate in order to force the completion of a larger project. party invoice. But Pelosi’s schedule has failed to appease a small group of frustrated moderate Democrats who are looking for ways to convince her and her team to change course.
At least six of those centrists are saying privately that they are prepared to block consideration of the Democrats’ budget proposal as a last resort to block the $ 3.5 trillion bill, according to two people familiar with the discussions. None of these Democrats would speak publicly about their plans, although they argue their influence is only growing with their five-seat party losing the House.
Democratic fears of the majority pulling away intensified this week after a respected centrist, Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Announced his retirement. Several of his moderate Democratic colleagues held a strategic call on Wednesday afternoon to discuss how best to use Pelosi’s extremely slim voting margin to their advantage.
The confrontational approaches of the dueling Pelosi caucus factions have come to light after weeks of whispering, and with just a three-vote margin in the House, each side predicts the other will crumble after a stifling season of battle. on Biden’s next one. high legislative priority.
“At some point this will become a kind of ‘this or nothing’ question for everyone,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), A member of the Democrats’ vote counting operation. “What I’ve discovered in the brief years I’ve been here is that people use the influence they have until they can’t anymore.”
These long-simmering tensions are more real to House Democrats now that the Senate has passed its bipartisan physical infrastructure plan and voted to speed up the larger budget bill. The House should be back in less than two weeks to take the same budgetary step.
But while House Republican majorities have stumbled thanks to Tory agitators who were happy to overturn their leaders’ plans and tank legislation, Democrats generally don’t operate in the same way – even after threatening to do so. do.
A senior Democratic official said that whether or not the handful of moderates planned to follow through on their threat, one thing was certain: if Pelosi put the Senate infrastructure bill to a vote this month, it would fail due to overwhelming progressive opposition.
While some moderates believe their hand is strengthened by the dozens of Republicans who should support the bipartisan Senate plan, other Democrats insist their party cannot rely on GOP votes. Minority parliamentary leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Has not said whether he would discourage his members from supporting the infrastructure bill passed by the Senate.
As she ended the caucus call on Wednesday, Pelosi issued a subtle alert of his, telling lawmakers that the next vote on this month’s budget resolution is not controversial and that the House should be able to move forward “without drama,” according to several Democrats listening.
Pelosi and his management team also told members on Tuesday that they are looking to complete both bills as quickly as possible. House committees have been given a Sept. 15 deadline to submit their elements of the social spending plan expected to be passed using protections against obstruction of the budget reconciliation process.
Under the current plan, the House would vote on this completed reconciliation package first, House Budget Speaker John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) Told Democrats in Tuesday’s call, according to the people who listened to it. And if the Senate makes any changes, the bill could bounce back in the House for a final vote.
Some senior Democratic and White House officials have suggested they want to pass both bills by September 30, the same day a series of transportation programs and current government funding are expected to expire.
But for many centrists in the House, it is too late. Moderates have publicly and privately warned that Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure victory might be long forgotten by the fall – and their ability to brag about it too soon to their constituents.
“I think we need to vote immediately on the infrastructure legislation that we have before us,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Co-leader of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, adding that the House should not not “to hold the infrastructure bill hostage to the still drafted reconciliation bill.”
“If it’s good enough for Bernie, why isn’t it good enough for the House progressives?” Why are some of them blocking this historic victory? added Rep. Josh Gottheimer (DN.J.), co-chair of the bipartisan problem-solvers caucus that approved the bill passed by the Senate.
House Liberals, however, argue that Democrats should not simply cram their bills into a shortened schedule with potentially historic legislation at stake. $ 3.5 trillion, from universal kindergarten child care to senior assistance.
And at least 60 percent of the 100 members of the Progressive Congressional Caucus said they would oppose the bipartisan Senate bill without this reconciliation bill.
“Our goal now is to deliver this to the president’s office – which is why we will continue to stay focused on passing this bill before we can vote for the smaller bipartisan package sent by the Senate,” he said. declared Pramila. Jayapal (D-Wash.), Who heads the CCP, wrote in a statement Wednesday announcing the Senate’s key step on his partisan spending bill.
But to show how tight the control of Democratic leaders will be in the weeks to come, centrist Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) released his own statement on Wednesday. Manchin expressed “serious concerns” about the cost of the social spending plan given rising inflation rates.
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