After hours of talks, the House finally moved on to a series of procedural votes on Friday night, meaning the bipartisan infrastructure vote could still pass, despite protests from progressives who have warned that if they go ahead. If so, they will sink the infrastructure bill. The economic package, known as the Build Back Better Act.
Throughout Friday, progressives made clear that the two bills should go ahead together, and they insisted that the infrastructure bill should be voted on at the same time if the $1.9 trillion bill is delayed.
The party has struggled for months to unite its liberal and progressive wings to implement the presidential agenda, but those efforts have been stalled repeatedly, causing several setbacks to congressional Democrats and the White House. . . The party has already had to vote on the infrastructure bill twice in two months due to the divergent demands of the progressive people. Biden joined in person, visited Hill twice to rally Democrats, and is working on the phone with moderators this week. It still hasn’t resolved the deadlock.
For most of the day, the stalled agenda suggested that Democrats may have to delay their votes again. But direct lobbying from the White House in the Congressional Progressive Caucus could yield success as floor action resumed Friday night.
Ahead of a potential infrastructure vote, a group of moderates, who represent the major hold on the social spending package, issued a statement detailing their commitments to vote for a social spending bill, aimed at To support the bill for infrastructure is to get progress on board.
Soon after the statement, Congress Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal issued a statement saying the caucus had reached an agreement with fellow Democrats to vote on the infrastructure bill Friday night, a key tenant of her position. Except, who only had to vote for infrastructure. Bill when the Social Expenditure Bill also gets the final vote. As of 10:45 a.m., it was unclear whether all members of the Progressive Caucus would support the plan.
Pelosi’s Whip Count
As frustration over the holdup intensified, the House leadership moved on to voting on a separate infrastructure bill and planning to rule for a social spending bill. But it is not clear that Democrats have the votes.
Pelosi stressed at a news conference that the new plan would go ahead and sounded confident about the infrastructure bill’s chances of passage, although he did not explicitly say that there is enough support to approve the measure. . .
Asked if he has 218 votes to pass the infrastructure bill without the social spending bill, Pelosi only said, “We’ll see.”
“I have a secret whip count of speakers,” Pelosi smiled at one point.
“I believe the Progressive Caucus has a large number of members who will vote for the bill,” she said.
After speaking to reporters, Pelosi shook hands with senior staff on the floor of the chamber of the House, which listed the names she continued to mention.
Biden Says Progressive
Amid the impasse, Biden called Washington state Democrat and Congress Progressive Caucus principal Representative Pramila Jayapal this afternoon, according to three sources familiar with the matter. She left the CPC meeting early to take the call.
According to a source in the room, around 20 progressives raised their hands after Jayapal asked those who did not support the infrastructure bill to show their hands.
According to two sources familiar with the call, the president separately convened a meeting of the Progressive Caucus and, speaking to members on speakerphone, voted on the infrastructure bill. According to a White House official, Biden also canceled his trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on Friday night, as he was on a path to advance his agenda.
Part of Biden’s message to progressives on Friday is that he is willing to work with them to find some kind of solution, as long as they agree to vote for the infrastructure bill in the coming hours. . , according to a source familiar with the call. The source said things have moved toward the process of drafting a statement backed by moderates and Biden that will provide clear and tangible assurances regarding a future vote on Biden’s economic and climate agenda bill, called the Build Back Better Act. will be called. is referred to as. It was unclear whether this would be enough to win over the Progressives as talks continued.
Multiple sources told CNN that Jayapal and New Jersey’s moderate Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer were in direct talks as they tried to finalize a deal that would put the infrastructure bill on the president’s desk on Friday with concrete assurances. Together, we will support the Moderate Build Back Better Act. .
The memo, issued by five moderate members of the Democratic caucus, was intended to fulfill those assurances. Gottheimer and fellow liberal Democratic Reps. Ed Case of Hawaii, Stephanie Murphy of Florida, Kathleen Rice of New York and Kurt Schrader of Oregon vowed to vote for the social spending package “in its current form in addition to technological changes, as we receive from the Convention Budget Office.” ” From financial information – but in no case after the week of November 15.”
despair grows
Some House Democrats are furious with a handful of moderates who are acting on demands that the $1.9 trillion bill get a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, a process that could take weeks.
“None of my constituents care about the CBO,” said one member.
Another member said, “Everyone is looking forward to getting it done.” “It’s disappointing that the Blue Dogs keep pushing the goal post. Every time we get closer, they come with a new demand.” The Blue Dog Coalition is a group of centrist House Democrats.
Several sources told CNN that even progressive members are not happy with the new plan to pass infrastructure without a social spending bill.
“If they choose that route they will lose at least 20 votes of Pramila, Squad and Core Progressive for BIF. This will not pass,” a progressive told CNN, “Jaipal, Congress Progressive Chair and Caucus Caucus. Referring to other members. and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, often referred to as the BIF.
Scramble for liberal demand votes
Five moderates, including Golden, signed a letter to a CBO score this week before the Build Back Better Act was considered.
The law’s CBO scores provide an estimate of the impact that policies can have on revenue and spending. Liberals, many of whom have expressed concern over the bill’s overall cost, argue that it is important to have this information and a complete picture of the potential impact of a wider social safety net plan before voting.
But it may take some time to prepare such a cost estimate. Meanwhile, Democratic leadership is relying on White House analysis to say the bill has been fully paid for, based on part of the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation.
Schrader, who signed a letter calling for a CBO score, left Pelosi’s office earlier on Friday and told CNN that “we have no resolution that I know of” when asked if he’d like Build Back Better. were on. ready to vote.
In a sign of progress for leadership, after Pelosi’s meeting in office, Democratic Representative Carolyn Bordeaux of Georgia tweeted that she is not against voting for the social spending bill and that the CBO score is not a red line for her.
“There are a lot of rumours going on. Let me be clear – this bill has been paid and I have many priorities in it. If it goes on floors today – I will support the Build Back Better Act,” she said. .
solve some issues
In a sign that a deal is drawing closer, House Democrats have also resolved another sticking point: how to deal with state and local tax cuts, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Democrats in the Northeast and West Coast are pushing to loosen the cap imposed by the 2017 tax law.
Under the new SALT deal, the deduction will be capped at $80,000 per year over a nine-year period, according to representative Tom Malinowski, who helped cut the deal.
Earlier this week, demands from progressives to pass bills in the House took center stage. Progressives have demanded that both the social safety net scheme and the infrastructure bill go together.
This story and title have been updated with additional development on Friday.
CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Kristin Wilson contributed to this report.
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