Nancy Pelosi, California House Speaker Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
After a bitter battle between moderates and Pelosi, the House Democrats approved a $3.5 trillion spending program.
With every GOP lawmaker opposed, the vote was 220-212.
This could foreshadow the heated debates that will follow as Democrats prepare to draft the social spending program this fall.
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In a party-line vote the House Democrats approved a $3.5 trillion spending plan, moving ahead on a key component of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda following a major intraparty fight.
The budget blueprint was approved by Democrats in a 220-212 vote, with all Republicans in opposition. They used a procedural maneuver to bundle multiple bills together, including a bill setting debate boundaries and a bill governing voting rights.
"Passing this rule opens the door to the Building Back Better plan which will make legislative progress unheard of in 50 years. This plan will stand for generations alongside New Deal and Great Society," Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated in a floor speech before the vote. "This legislation will become the largest, and possibly most controversial, initiative we have ever undertaken in our official lives.
It was the culmination of a dramatic showdown between Pelosi, a bloc 10 Democratic moderates. This test Pelosi's ability to guide her caucus through her slim three-seat majority. This vote may be a sign of the future intraparty battles, as it was only used to advance a spending plan and not an entire piece of legislation.
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It is likely that the process of filling out the details will take several weeks. This could lead to more fighting between moderates and progressives who have competing priorities in taxes, healthcare, and the safety net. Pelosi promised to pass an infrastructure bill before Sept. 27 in order to quell the centrist revolt.
New Jersey's moderate faction, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, rebelled earlier this August and demanded that the House pass a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. This would allow them to consider supporting the partisan spending plan.
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Continue reading: From community college free to higher taxes for the wealthy: How would the $3.5 trillion plan House Democrats passed affect you?
Pelosi fought for nearly two years against her insistence that the House vote on the bipartisan bill only after the Senate passed a separate Democrat spending package. This fall, Pelosi was forced to give up on her claim that the House would not vote on the bipartisan bill. Reporters were told by Ilhan Omar, a progressive Minnesota representative, that the clash between Pelosi's moderates and her was nothing but a "sh*tshow."
Omar stated that she didn't know what Omar was expecting. She also said that the moderates have weakened their bargaining ability because they didn’t receive the full infrastructure vote they wanted.
Pelosi's move was to get House progressives to back an infrastructure bill that they had criticized as inadequate, and to persuade moderates to endorse the larger social spending package. Some centrist Democrats opposed it, arguing that it was unnecessary for them to delay funding for roads and bridges repairs, as well as strengthening broadband connections.
"I am bewildered at my party's misguided stratagem to make passage the popular, bipartisan infrastructure bill contingent on passage of the contentious yet-to-be written, partisan reconciliation bill," Rep. Stephanie Murphy, Florida, stated in an Orlando Sentinel editorial published Monday evening. It was "bad policy," she said.
The reconciliation tactic is used to pass certain bills by a simple majority vote. In a 50-50 Senate however, reconciliation requires that all 50 Senate Democrats remain united in order to receive a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The party-line spending plan would increase Medicare to provide dental, vision and hearing coverage. It would also establish a national program to pay family and medical leave, tuition free community college, child allowances, and other initiatives to address climate change. Democrats plan to offer citizenship to some undocumented immigrants who are currently living in the US.
This story will be updated.
Business Insider has the original article.
