Pelosi postpones vote on Biden’s infrastructure bill in defeat for Democrats | American Policy

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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi postponed a planned vote on a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill Thursday night in a stinging defeat for Democrats after the progressives’ revolt, and withheld his support until a deal could be reached to enact a full survey of Joe Biden’s economic vision. .

The decision capped a frenetic day of negotiations in Washington that stretched into late evening, as the president and Democratic leaders attempted to break the deadlock between a handful of moderates, who had lobbied for a vote on infrastructure, and progressives who believed it would not be enough without a broader 3.5 social policy package. trillion dollars.

“A great deal of progress has been made this week, and we’re closer to an agreement than ever,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said after the House announced there would be no vote on Thursday. “But we’re not there yet, so we’ll need some extra time to get the work done, starting tomorrow morning first thing.”

Democrats insisted the setback was temporary, but the delay highlighted the fragile state of negotiations as a pair of Senate strongholds demanded the president significantly reduce the broader legislation containing many of the party’s top policy priorities. The House of Representatives was scheduled to meet again on Friday, giving Democrats at least one more day to try to strike a deal that would satisfy the warring factions.

Both pieces are important to Biden’s economic vision. He spent weeks himself courting Republican senators to secure a bipartisan win for the infrastructure bill, which would invest $1 trillion in developing roads, bridges and broadband. But he bet his presidency — and his legacy — on the passage of a massive social policy bill that would expand health care, make child care more affordable, create paid federal leave and fight the climate crisis, spurred by tax increases on wealthy Americans and corporations. .

In a vaguely worded letter to colleagues Thursday night, Pelosi called it a “Progress Day.”

“Discussions continue with the House, Senate, and White House to reach a bicameral framework agreement to build back better through a reconciliation bill,” she wrote.

“All of this momentum brings us closer to crafting the reconciliation bill in a way that passes the House and Senate,” she said, concluding the speech with a promise: “More will follow.”

The late vote was a huge blow to Pelosi, the self-described lead negotiator who had earlier insisted Democrats were “on the way to winning” in the infrastructure vote. “That’s the fun part,” she boasted to reporters Thursday, referring to the chaotic final stage before a major legislative breakthrough.

Still, with only three votes left, and largely opposed by Republicans, Pelosi was unable to resolve competing promises to progressives and centrists in time for Thursday’s vote.

In an effort to appease a small group of centrist Democrats, Pelosi has promised to bring the infrastructure bill to the House floor for a vote this week. But progressives have long maintained that they would only support this bill if it was passed along with the more expansive $3.5 trillion package.

When it became clear Thursday that the Senate was not ready to pass the legislation as written, progressives sided with their threat to destroy the infrastructure bill, which they saw as leverage to ensure Biden’s full economic vision was enacted.

The fate of Biden’s agenda remains in limbo, and with Democrats fiercely divided, it was not clear Thursday night how they plan to advance.

The terms of the negotiations were largely driven by two naysayers in the Senate, who oppose the current size of the spending package. On Thursday, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he would not support a spending package of more than $1.5 trillion, less than half the size of the proposal pushed by Biden and most of the Democratic Party.

In the midst of negotiations with only hours left, Congress passed legislation to avoid a government shutdown at midnight Thursday, with Biden later signing a measure that would fund the federal government through December 3.

This measure was passed by the House and Senate with bipartisan support, although a large number of Republicans voted against it.

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