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Washington – As the House prepares to vote on Monday to push forward the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a broader budget plan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains locked in a dead end with a group of moderate Democrats pushing for the chamber to quickly pass the targeted infrastructure proposal.
House suspends August recess to return to Washington for procedural vote to move infrastructure plan and budget resolution forward, passage of which will allow Congress to begin the process to initiate a massive spending program $ 3.5 trillion through reconciliation. Both measures were approved by the Senate earlier this month.
But the group of nine moderate Democrats have threatened to withhold support for the budget bill, which the House is expected to pass this week, unless Pelosi first votes on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“You don’t consider a top priority for the country, and millions of jobs, as a form of leverage,” the moderate Democrats wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post. “The infrastructure bill is not political football.”
The central issue for the group is the timing of the vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which may not come for weeks, with Pelosi repeatedly pledging not to bring the targeted measure to the House until after the Senate will not have approved all the expenses. President Biden and Democratic leaders are using a two-track strategy to push through the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a broader $ 3.5 trillion plan in Congress and put their passage on a stronger footing, given that Democrats hold a slim majority in both chambers.
But moderate Democrats have claimed that any delay in approving the infrastructure bill and sending it to Mr. Biden’s office is hurting American communities. Progressive Democrats, they argue, are holding the infrastructure bill hostage as lawmakers craft the $ 3.5 trillion package, which will include Democrats’ plans for healthcare, child care, education and the environment.
“The House cannot afford to wait for months or do anything that jeopardizes the passage of this infrastructure bill or the loss of the bipartisan support that backs it,” wrote the Democratic member of the Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, one of the leaders of the nine moderates, in New Jersey. Jersey Star-Ledger Monday. “As they say in Washington, time kills the bills. We have this opportunity within our grasp – let’s not waste it.”
Democrats hold a slim majority in the House, and Pelosi can only afford to lose the support of up to three members of his caucus if all Republicans oppose the rule, which sets the parameters for floor debate and will be voted on by the House on Monday. evening.
While Pelosi set the vote to move the two measures forward in an effort to alleviate the concerns of the nine moderates, they continued to call on the House to address the infrastructure bill.
But even as the group of nine digs, the speaker has not budged from his pressure to have the House vote on the fiscal framework ahead of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, telling fellow Democrats in a note on Sunday that ‘they “must act quickly to pass the budget resolution this week.”
“Any delay in passing the budget resolution threatens the timeline for achieving historic progress and the transformative vision that Democrats share,” wrote Pelosi, a Democrat from California, adding that the House was “working hard” to enact the bill. $ 3.5 trillion spending plan. and bipartite bill on infrastructure before October 1.
Pelosi reiterated on Monday that the House would vote on the $ 3.5 trillion reconciliation package before the infrastructure plan, rejecting pressure from moderate Democrats to have the bipartisan bill put to a vote first.
“We must not waste our Democratic majorities in Congress and jeopardize the unique opportunity to create historic change to meet the needs of working families,” she said in a letter to House Democrats.
Progressive House Democrats have also said they will not support the bipartisan infrastructure bill until the larger budget measure is passed by the Senate. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday that Mr Biden supported Pelosi’s path forward and called the debate within the House Democratic caucus on how to proceed “in good order. health”.
“He has confidence in President Pelosi’s approach and process and will remain closely aligned,” she said.
Mr Biden has spoken to Pelosi, Democratic leaders and congressional committee chairs in recent days, Psaki said, and White House aides have been in contact with various members of the Democratic caucus.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill, negotiated by a group of senators and the White House, and the $ 3.5 trillion package are key aspects of Mr. Biden’s domestic policy agenda. Congressional approval of the two would give the president important legislative victories as his administration reeling from the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The infrastructure bill, which includes $ 550 billion in new spending to revitalize the country’s roads, bridges, railways and ports, has been touted as the biggest investment in the country’s physical infrastructure since decades.
Meanwhile, the larger $ 3.5 trillion package is still being drafted by congressional committees and will include Democrats’ priorities on social programs that were left out of the infrastructure bill.
Democrats are using a process called budget reconciliation to pass the larger plan, which allows it to clear the Senate without the support of Republicans. But his move to the upper house is not a sure thing, as two key moderate senators, Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have opposed the $ 3.5 trillion prize.
Manchin and Sinema both voted to pass the budget resolution, the first step in the reconciliation process, but Manchin on Monday urged the House to “unite and adopt a key priority of the American people – improving infrastructure of our country”.
“It’s not about party or politics, it’s about doing what’s right for the country,” he said in a statement. declaration. It would send a terrible message to the American people if this bipartisan bill is taken hostage. “
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