Pelosi suffered a major defeat to rising stars of the Progressive Democrats, as Biden’s agenda was frozen

In a rare instance where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was unable to do what she had to do to win a vote, Progressive House Democrats secured a major victory last week by blocking passage the bipartisan infrastructure bill that the president had promised to pass in the House. by Thursday.

It was a resounding failure for the speaker who has been known for years for her iron fist on her caucus and her ability to win important votes with the smallest of margins.

This caused the two biggest items on President Biden’s agenda in Congress to abruptly shut down, and it represented a decisive victory for Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Who gathered her heroes. members against the bipartisan infrastructure bill while Pelosi and other Democratic leaders whipped it.

“I have never been so proud of [the Progressive Caucus] as I am right now, ”Jayapal said in a Friday afternoon tweet. “Last night we stood firm for working families and resisted the interests of business and lobbyists. Today, we continue to fight to implement the President’s entire agenda for the American people. “

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As the leader of one of the largest congressional caucuses – there are 96 members in the Progressive Caucus – Jayapal is in a position where she could wield significant power among Congressional Democrats for a long time.

The 81-year-old Pelosi, meanwhile, was left behind in defeat.

“There will be a vote today,” Pelosi said as he left the Capitol at 12:01 am Friday morning. This could have been interpreted as a reference to the calendar day of Friday, or the legislative day of Thursday, which, because the House did not close its doors on Thursday evening, turned into Friday,

But there was no vote at the end of Friday, and the House left town without a vote, ending “Thursday”.

“Time was cut short two weeks ago when the prospect of a budget change made the climb to a deal steeper. But the work continues,” Pelosi said in a letter to fellow Democrats on Saturday.

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“There were two dynamics at work: a commitment to the attainable date as part of the initial budget agreement and a commitment not to take the BIF to the bottom unless we had consensus on both. the first figure of the Build Back Better Act and on the policies contained and the commitments of all stakeholders in the House and Senate that they support the agreement: criteria that were suggested by the deputies ”, continued Pelosi. “Out of respect for our colleagues who support the bills and out of recognition of the need for both, I would not bring down the BIF to the ground. Again, we will and must pass both bills soon. responsibility and opportunity to do that. “

The speaker received an extremely difficult hand. She had to move two massive bills on a condensed schedule with almost no margin for error in a divided caucus. But the fact remains that she didn’t do the job.

Capitol Hill watchers say last week’s machinations show Pelosi no longer has the ability to control House Democrats with an iron fist.

“You have these big showdowns, you have these self-imposed deadlines. And then no matter what happens, you get a better understanding of those deadlines from your position,” said James Wallner, R Street Institute resident principal investigator. for governance, to Fox News. . “Members are starting to moderate their positions a bit… and that’s going to continue to happen and at some point… Schumer is going to be proposing legislation and he’s going to basically challenge Manchin and Sinema to oppose this bill.”

“I wouldn’t say Pelosi lost, per se. If you think back to Paul Ryan and John Boehner and how they ran the House, and they would lose votes. And what Pelosi did was to withdrawing a bill or not having to vote on the bill because she is going to lose. So she retains the option of winning in the future, “Wallner said.” This means, I think, that the Progressives recognize their influence and they recognize that if they don’t use their influence, if they don’t really maintain their credibility, they’re going to get ripped off. ”

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Indeed, Wallner said, last week was a turning point for progressives in the House Democratic Caucus.

“It’s not a question of who’s at the top. I mean, you might have a situation where the establishment retains control of the House Democratic Party, but because the progressives are emboldened, because they feel stronger, they can make the House work differently, ”he said. noted.

Despite Pelosi breaking his promise to vote – and despite how ugly things are for Democrats amid their bickering within the party – the door to adopt President Biden’s agenda might actually be a bit more open than it was last week.

Prior to last week, Progressives said their hard floor for the reconciliation bill was $ 3.5 trillion. And until last week, there didn’t appear to be any talks between moderates and leaders about what might be in a reconciliation bill.

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But through last week’s ordeal, the senses Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., And Joe Manchin, DW.Va., were discussing with Senate and White House leaders a potential framework for reconciliation. And although Sinema blasted the progressives for trying to “hold one bill hostage to another” and the leadership for making “conflicting promises that not all could be kept,” she failed. has not yet reiterated its threat to defeat the reconciliation bill if the infrastructure does not. past.

And some progressives seem to be open to a bill that costs more than $ 2 trillion, which Fox News says will likely be closer to the end price of the legislation.

“We can anticipate the benefits and have fewer years, but at the end of the day the president is an honest intermediary. He will bring all the stakeholders together and I trust his judgment to achieve a compromise,” Ro Khanna said. , D-Calif, member of the House Progressive Caucus. ., said on “Fox News Sunday”.

“Going down to the low of 2 is something that I think is going to be quite difficult,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., said on MSNBC Sunday. “There’s that question where we have these two holdouts in the Senate, it’s a conversation we need to have. But again, that doesn’t necessarily mean reducing the scale of its investments. It could mean where we say can. -being that we are doing a five-year infrastructure plan instead of a 10-year infrastructure plan. ”

Additionally, with the passing of an interim measure to deal with highway financing until the end of October, Democrats have given themselves four more weeks to reach a deal on the reconciliation they were trying to find in just a few days last week.

The point is, it’s a better place than the Democrats’ place last Monday. And now they have until the end of the month to settle their still massive disputes. It won’t be easy. And nothing is guaranteed. But Pelosi said Thursday that she believes patience and persistence will help her win in the end.

“Let me tell you about the negotiation. At the end of the day, that’s when you really have to wait,” Pelosi told reporters. “You can’t tire yourself. You can’t concede. That’s, that’s the fun part.”

Jacqui Heinrich, Jason Donner, Chad Pergram and Lori Crim of Fox News contributed to this report.