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On Tuesday, Progressive Democrats clearly warned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders that their stance on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure program remained unchanged: without an agreement on a policy bill broader social, they have no plans to back a bipartisan infrastructure bill that Pelosi wants to vote on this Thursday.
“We formulated this position over three months ago, and today it is still unchanged: Progressives will vote for both bills, but a majority of our members will vote for the infrastructure bill only. ‘After the President’s visionary Build Back Better Act passed,’ Progressive Caucus chairperson Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said in a statement.
“This agenda is not a fringe wish list: it’s the president’s agenda, the Democratic agenda and what we all promised voters when they handed over the House, Senate and White House to us. “she said.
“As our members have made it clear for three months, the two are integrally linked and we will only vote for the infrastructure bill after passing the reconciliation bill,” she added.
Jayapal previously noted that more than 60 caucus members of nearly 100 members will vote no on the bipartisan bill if it is not passed along with the $ 3.5 trillion social policy bill.
Shortly after, Senator Bernie Sanders, in a tweet, urged progressives to vote against the bill Biden and Pelosi wish to pass, stating “I strongly urge my colleagues in the House to vote against the bill. bipartisan bill on infrastructure until Congress passes a strong reconciliation bill. “
Between Tuesday’s warnings from Democrats and Republicans planning to withhold any “yes” vote Thursday in hopes of securing a Democratic defeat, Pelosi could be forced to change plans.
Moderates have been insisting for weeks that they want a vote on the $ 1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that authorized the Senate last month.
Pelosi privately rallied Democrats at a caucus meeting on Monday night, signaling that she plans to move forward with a vote Thursday on the bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill, regardless of the state of negotiations on the largest democratic set of policies with the Senate.
Pelosi’s announcement to Democrats was a reversal of his earlier promise to bring the two pieces of legislation closer together.
Pelosi and his leadership team worked furiously behind the scenes under intense pressure to find a delicate compromise between the two factions.
Moments after the Progressives sent their final warning on Tuesday, Pelosi declined to comment on what she intended to do, given that the bill will fail on Thursday without the support of the Progressives.
“I’m not having this conversation right now,” Pelosi told reporters.
In a letter to a dear colleague sent Tuesday afternoon, Pelosi suggested that Biden was taking the lead in negotiating efforts.
“As I write this to you, negotiations are being conducted by President Biden to advance his vision. The president is proud of his platform, which is overwhelmingly shared by Democrats in the House and Senate, which creates jobs, gives tax cuts to the middle class, cuts health care costs and is paid by forcing the wealthier few and the big corporations to pay their fair share, ”Pelosi said in the letter.
The problem is the lack of a number at the top of the broader social spending bill. The $ 3.5 trillion bill includes significant new investments in healthcare, child care, higher education, workforce training, and paid family and medical leave, which would include 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for most American workers.
But moderate Democrats, including Sense. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have made it clear that the price to pay has to be much lower if they are to back him up.
Manchin and Sinema both met Biden separately in the White House on Tuesday. Pelosi made it clear to reporters ahead of those meetings that in order for progress to be made on the reconciliation bill, senators like Manchin and Sinema must first state how much spending they are prepared to support.
“So in the next few days we hope to get to a place where we can move forward,” Pelosi told reporters.
Pelosi added that she wanted the reconciliation bill done before Biden flew to Glasgow in November, so he could brag about the bill’s climate provisions.
“We want the president to be able to go out there with a plan to meet our missions, promises and standards as well as our commitments to foreign countries that technology also helps meet their standards. So this is a pretty exciting time. It’s a very big program, and it’s transformative, ”she said.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats were taking it “one day at a time” and could not say the bipartisan plan would pass Thursday, given opposition from progressives.
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