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- Nancy Pelosi has taken a big gamble that risks sinking the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
- Brewing progressive opposition may force Pelosi to delay the vote until there's an social spending agreement among Democrats.
- "If there is a vote, I hope it loses," Sen. Bernie Sanders told Insider.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in the midst of perhaps the toughest stretch of her three-decade legislative career: Getting the bulk of President Joe Biden's economic agenda over the finish line with only three votes to spare.
Pelosi told House Democrats at a caucus meeting on Monday the $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill had to be passed within days even though the $3.5 trillion social spending package wasn't close to clearing the Senate, per a person familiar with the remarks. She said Democrats needed to make "difficult choices" given there was still no agreement on a final, smaller price tag for the larger anti-poverty bill.
The California Democrat's stark reversal has triggered a progressive revolt that threatens to tank the bipartisan measure if a Thursday vote on it goes ahead. The worsening clash could sink part or all of President Joe Biden's economic agenda, leaving Democrats with little to show for the first time they've controlled Congress and the White House in a decade.
Dozens of House progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York are warning about their opposition to the bipartisan package – and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is encouraging them to hold firm.
"There may or may not be a vote in the House tomorrow, if there is a vote, I hope it loses," Sanders told Insider. "I think it is terribly important that before the House votes on the infrastructure bill that we have a strong underlying reconciliation package which not only addresses the needs of working families, but also addresses the existential threat of climate."
'Let's stick to the original plan'
In late June, Pelosi along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tied the fate of the Biden infrastructure bill to the social spending plan. The "two-track" strategy was designed to ensure both measures moved in tandem, giving Democratic moderates a reason to back the larger party-line bill in exchange for progressives supporting the traditional infrastructure package.
A centrist revolt in the House in late August forced Pelosi to strike a deal with a group of 10 moderate lawmakers to ensure the social spending plan would move ahead. Now, the larger reconciliation package isn't close to being done with major differences on the size and scope of the plan's tax and spending provisions on a range of issues including childcare, climate, and education.
Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are emerging as major obstacles for Biden's legislative agenda. The key pair of centrists attended back-to-back White House meetings with Biden and his senior aides, The Washington Post reported, but didn't signal what price tag they'd be willing to accept or their major priorities.
Their lack of clarity is prompting progressive fury and they're urging both measures be approved at the same time. "We just need to push these two senators to tell us what they want and why they are, you know, obstructing progress on behalf of the American people," Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota told reporters on Wednesday.
Omar later said she didn't believe the bipartisan bill had enough support among progressives to pass this week.
Ocasio-Cortez said much of the rift boiled down to a lack of "trust" between progressives and moderates.
"Let's stick to the original plan," the New York progressive told reporters. "I will support Manchin's priorities. He can support my priorities, and we can all win, and working families can get childcare, healthcare, climate action, and infrastructure investment."
House progressives are not alone as their Democratic colleagues in the Senate also agree with them. "We need to make sure and have confidence that both measures" are traveling together, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told Insider on Tuesday.
Pelosi says the scheduled vote will go ahead as planned, though she now wants agreement on legislative language for the social spending plan. Whether that's enough to placate progressives remains to be seen, but Congressional Democrats recognize the stakes.
"If we fail to pass these two bills, people will not forgive us," Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the chief House Democratic vote-counter, said at a private Democratic meeting, per Politico.