Pelosi Starts Push to Vote on $550 Billion in Infrastructure

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pressuring House Democrats to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill as soon as Thursday but is running into stiff opposition from progressives, who want to see the legislative text of a larger tax and spending package first.

Pelosi’s leadership team alerted members that a vote on the infrastructure bill may occur sometime during the day, following President Joe Biden briefing Democrats on a framework for spending plan, according to a Democratic aide familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan isn’t yet public.

Biden also urged Democrats to act on the public works plan with $550 billion in new spending during his private meeting with House Democrats, according to lawmakers, some of whom said Biden gave no guidance on timing.

Members of the House Democratic leadership team were attempting to assess whether they have the votes to pass the infrastructure plan, with the aim of making a decision on whether to proceed by Thursday afternoon. The Senate approved the legislation in August, and House passage would give Biden a major win as he heads later Thursday to Europe to attend summit meetings with global leaders.

But many progressives continue to oppose acting on the infrastructure bill with also being able to a $1.75 trillion social-spending bill, has been the focus of intensive negotiations for months. Democrats don’t yet have the framework unveiled by Biden Thursday translated into legislation.

“I’m a no on infrastructure until we get the other bill,” Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a member of the Democrats’ Congressional Progressive Caucus leadership, said Thursday morning. She said she didn’t want to take people’s word for supporting the tax and social-spending package.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent, urged the House to postpone a vote on the infrastructure bill until “they see very clear language and know that there are 50 senators on board whatever the agreement may be” on the larger tax and spending bill.

Pelosi met with progressives after the Biden meeting and did not respond to questions from reporters afterward.

DeFazio’s Plea
Procedurally, Pelosi needs only to call the bill up for a vote on the floor. Members were advised in a notice that potential floor action on the bill could occur Thursday, though that doesn’t guarantee it will.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio is among those leading the effort to convince members to vote for the bill. He sent a “Dear Colleague” letter Thursday morning to Democrats that Pelosi’s office helped to circulate. The infrastructure legislation includes funding for the highway trust fund. That’s now subject to a temporary extension that expires Oct. 31.

In it, DeFazio said that another short-term extension of highway funding — such as the current one that expires at the end of the month — is “highly disruptive to transportation project planning and delivery” by departments, and local governments.

“It will take all Democrats working together to reach the finish line on both of these bills,” he wrote. “That’s why I’m asking all members of the House Democratic Caucus to join together to support the infrastructure bill when it is called up in the House.”

Source: Bloomberg