Moderate House Democrats threaten to blow up infrastructure negotiations
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A group of moderate House Democrats on Friday threatened to blow up infrastructure negotiations, highlighting the delicate line that party leadership is trying to walk as it pushes two bills totaling over $4 trillion.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, nine Democratic legislators said they would not vote to advance a budget resolution until the chamber votes on the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the Senate earlier this week. Pelosi has said she would not hold a vote on the infrastructure deal until the large budget plan, which includes funding for climate and social programs, has also cleared the Senate.
“We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law,” read the letter from the House members. With Democrats holding only a five-vote majority in the House, the holdouts imperil the two-track plan that Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are trying to navigate.
Schumer and Pelosi have attempted to appease both sides of the party by allowing moderates to get a bipartisan win working with Republicans while fulfilling White House promises and progressive priorities on issues like climate, elder care and Medicare expansion via a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that would be passed only with Democratic votes. The bipartisan deal hammered out by the Senate moderates includes about $550 billion in new spending, a quarter of President Biden’s initial proposal, and lacks provisions on climate and care workers included in his original plan.
“Some have suggested that we hold off on considering the Senate infrastructure bill for months — until the reconciliation process is completed. We disagree,” read the letter. “With the livelihoods of hardworking American families at stake, we simply can’t afford months of unnecessary delays and risk squandering this once-in-a-century, bipartisan infrastructure package.”
The letter was signed by Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Filemon Vela of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Ed Case of Hawaii, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jim Costa of California and Carolyn Bourdeaux of Georgia.
Pelosi has been asked repeatedly over the previous weeks about her plans and consistently said she will not hold a vote in the House until both bills have cleared the Senate. “I am not freelancing,” she said on a call Wednesday with Democrats. “This is the consensus.
“The votes in the House and Senate depend on us having both bills,” she added.
Biden has also endorsed the two-track plan, saying Tuesday, “I think we will get enough Democrats to vote for it, and I think that the House will eventually put two bills on my desk: one on infrastructure and one on reconciliation.”
Reports that the letter was beginning to circulate last weekend sparked strong pushback from progressives, who have said for months they will not support the smaller bipartisan deal unless it comes attached to the budget resolution.
“It was clear from the beginning that the way a skinny bill gets a shot is if it’s part of a larger infrastructure package,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted earlier this week, adding in a separate message, “If [moderates] want to blow up the infra deal, that’s on them.”
The New York congresswoman later said the group should be referred to as “conservative,” writing, “Let’s stop pretending that Dems who threaten to tank the President’s agenda, kill childcare/Medicare expansion, and work w/ GOP to expand the cruelest parts of our immigration system are ‘moderate.’”
If a vote is held on the infrastructure bill, it’s unclear if it would even pass without major support from House Republicans. On Tuesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus announced that a survey of its 96 members found a majority unwilling to support the bipartisan deal unless it was paired with the larger deal.
“These results affirm the urgency of ensuring that the Senate’s desire to pass a narrower bipartisan infrastructure agreement does not come at the expense of the full-scope investments our communities need, want and deserve,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who chairs the group. “Our caucus is clear: The bipartisan bill will only be passed if a package of social, human and climate infrastructure — reflecting long-standing Democratic priorities — is passed simultaneously through budget reconciliation.”
Schumer has set a soft deadline of Sept. 15 for committees to draft legislation for the budget resolution. The $3.5 trillion budget proposal was primarily written by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and was agreed to by Democrats on the Budget Committee, which he chairs. The initial plan includes provisions that would expand Medicare coverage, institute universal pre-K, fund elder care and establish a Civilian Climate Corps, with some of the funding coming from higher taxes on corporations and Americans making over $400,000.
The plan must be agreed to by all 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus, so it’s likely the final dollar amount will be smaller, as a number of moderates in the chamber, including Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have expressed discomfort with the $3.5 trillion number.
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