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“I don’t see a deal tonight,” Manchin (DW.Va.) told reporters as he left Capitol Hill around 10 p.m. after meeting with senior Congressional and White House officials on the proposed broader law.
Democrats familiar with the talks said party leaders had hoped to convince Manchin and Sinema to agree to a $ 2.1 trillion target for the larger package, without success. Earlier today, Manchin said he would not support a bill that would cost more than $ 1.5 trillion.
The delay marks the second time this week that Pelosi and his management team have been forced to cancel a planned vote on infrastructure as they continue negotiations with the Senate and the White House to stem a massive number of Liberal defections in the field. While moderate Democrats insist it won’t slow momentum, it increases pressure on Pelosi, Schumer and Senate centrists to reach a deal on Friday.
Pelosi agreed to send lawmakers home shortly after 10 p.m., but party leaders will use a procedural maneuver to avoid starting a new legislative day – a nod to moderates who insisted on a vote on Thursday.
Failure to meet Thursday’s deadline, however, means that authorization for several transport programs expires. Although few funds are threatened in the short term, it means that 4,000 employees of the Department of Transport could be put on leave.
Lawmakers were discussing a temporary extension to highway and transit programs that the House could quickly pass on Friday and send to the Senate.
In several meetings Thursday, Pelosi struggled to strike a deal on the legislative framework for a broader spending deal between the party’s two factions, Democrats familiar with his thinking said. Late Thursday night, those talks turned into face-to-face talks between Manchin, Sinema, Schumer and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) As they rushed to reach an agreement on a total price for the bill wider.
White House officials, including National Economic Council director Brian Deese and Home Policy Council director Susan Rice, also took part in talks on both sides of Capitol Hill.
“A lot of progress has been made this week, and we are closer than ever to an agreement,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Thursday evening. “But we’re not there yet, so we’ll need a little more time to finish the job, starting early tomorrow morning.”
The framework they seek would not be a legislative text, but would be more in-depth than a sketch. The aim is to include agreement on the full cost of the bill and the main policy provisions in three areas: family issues such as child care and paid leave; health care; and climate change.
Pelosi also called for outside reinforcements to encourage members to vote for the infrastructure bill, including influential labor groups that send letters to members of Congress.
Pelosi and his leadership team’s Herculean push comes at great stakes: Some Democrats warn that a resounding infrastructure failure would deal a lasting blow to Biden’s agenda, further exacerbating tensions within the party. Moderates like Sinema have threatened to drop the broader spending talks if the infrastructure vote fails.
But even though Democrats remain uncertain about a vote on Friday, they have acknowledged that this kind of high-stakes and all-consuming whip operation is precisely President Pelosi’s wheelhouse.
“We are on the right track to win the votes. I don’t even want to consider any other options than that, ”she told a packed room of journalists on Thursday. “Think positively.”
When the bill is introduced, several Democrats have said part of the plan will be to keep the vote open until Pelosi can muster enough members for the passage, whether from the Progressive wing of the caucus or Republicans who support the infrastructure bill. . One member described it as a “look down” strategy.
But as those bicameral talks unfolded later that night Thursday, Progressives held a private call where Progressive Congressional Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) Reiterated to her members that she still demands a Senate vote on broader social spending plan – not just a framework.
The Liberal Democrats have voiced strong opposition to the vote, member after member speaking to say they would oppose the bill, according to a person on the call.
Across the Capitol, Democratic leaders tried to convince both Manchin and Sinema to commit to a higher figure, hours later POLITICO reported Manchin had offered a price of 1.5 trillion dollars over the summer.
But progressives, including Sanders, have been pushing for House Democrats to delay the vote and instead stick to the pledge to embrace Biden’s two priorities at once.
“[Negotiations] can take place tomorrow, they can take place next week. We shouldn’t hang on to a date, ”Sanders said as he left a meeting with Schumer and other leading Democrats, adding that he hoped the House bill“ would be defeated ”. it was voted on Thursday evening.
Pelosi and his leadership team worked at a breakneck pace to secure votes from various factions in the caucus, sitting down with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, and the Moderate NDP Coalition.
“This is happening today, we are moving forward,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (DN.J.) told reporters after the Blue Dog meeting.
Meanwhile, House GOP leaders have fiercely opposed the bipartisan infrastructure bill, working to limit defections in a vote that could deliver a key legislative victory for the Biden administration.
In recent weeks, Republicans have hammered home the message that they see the Senate-approved plan as tied to a larger Democrats’ social spending program, which they say is reason enough to oppose it. .
“I think the majority … of our members are going to vote ‘no’ because they don’t see it as an infrastructure bill,” parliamentary minority leader Kevin McCarthy said at a press conference Thursday.
Despite the intense pressure campaign, some centrist Republican members have already publicly announced their support for the plan – although these GOP votes are not meant save the invoice dozens of House progressives who have vowed to oppose the bipartisan bill.
About 10 to 15 Republicans are expected to support the vote Thursday night, according to GOP sources. That would not be enough to make up for liberal defections, however, with Jayapal reiterating that at least 60 Democrats are ready to vote against the bill.
If Pelosi withdraws the bill, Senior Democrats predicted she would wait until the last possible moment, keeping the pressure on Senate centrists Manchin and Sinema to negotiate.
But Manchin told reporters Thursday night – after hours of negotiating with party leaders and White House aides – that he was not budging.
“I’m still at $ 1.5 [trillion] guys i have been on 1.5 and i am going to make sure people understand that there is a ton of good, ”said Manchin. “We can help a lot of people, kids in the front, old people in the back, a lot of good things.”
Olivia Beavers, Burgess Everett, and Tanya Snyder contributed to this report.
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