WASHINGTON - Tuesday's vote by the House Democrats allowed President Joe Biden to continue with his top legislative priorities. This was after resolving a dispute between centrist rebels and leadership, who threatened to block the multitrillion dollar safety net expansion.
220 votes to 212 were cast by the House to approve the "rule" to instruct committees to draft the $3.5 trillion bill. This bill can be passed in both chambers with no Republican support. To placate centrist Democratic holdouts Speaker Nancy Pelosi set a Sept. 27 deadline for voting on the $550 million Senate-passed infrastructure bill.
All Democrats voted in favor of the measure. All Republicans voted against it.
The procedural vote was a victory for Biden but it gave a glimpse of the difficulties that Democrats face as they try to craft a massive spending bill and pass it in both chambers with thin majorities. They have three votes in the House, and none in Senate.
"Never place a bet against Nancy Pelosi," Rep. John Larson (D-Conn) said. She also gets all the blame for being the leader.
Biden and his senior staff called several House members, including centrist skepticals, before the vote. They stressed that both the budget and infrastructure bills were critical to his agenda, according to a White House official.
"Going to transform America"
Biden was enthusiastic about the vote and called it progress towards passing his proposals. He also praised the "historic investment" that will transform America, reduce taxes for working families, and position America for long-term, sustainable economic growth.
Pelosi's plan to vote on Monday was thwarted by the centrist Democrats led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). They wanted to seperate the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the party-line budget bill to ensure that the latter wouldn't be delayed for months while the party worked out its plan for the second bill on safety net expansions and tax increases.
Continue the story
"I have made a commitment to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill before September 27. Pelosi stated in a statement that she did so with the commitment to get House Democratic support for its passage. We must preserve the 51-vote privilege and pass the budget. Then, we need to work with Senate Democrats and the House Democrats to come to an agreement so that the House can vote on the Build Back Better Act.
Gottheimer, along with eight of his centrist friends, stated that they have "established an agenda forward that will ensure we can pass this once in a century infrastructure investment by September 27, which will allow us to create millions more jobs and bring our country into the 21st Century."
Progressives need to be aware
However, moderate Democrats have secured a date to vote on the infrastructure bill. This doesn't mean that it will be passed by the House by Sept. 27, if the larger budget bill hasn't been completed by then.
"As our members made clear for three years, the two are intrinsically tied together and we will vote for the infrastructure bill only after passing the reconciliation bill," Rep. Pramila Japal, D.Wash., leader of the progressive caucus said in a statement.
The heart of the dispute is a bid to leverage the multitrillion dollar bill. Progressives are seeking to pass a broad expansion of the safety net. This will be paid for by tax increases on the wealthy and corporations. The $3.5 trillion price tag is a concern for centrist Democrats, who are also more cautious about some taxes. They are eager to pass the separate Infrastructure Package into law and secure a bipartisan victory.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), told NBC News that Sept. 27 was "a bit arbitrary."
She said that she was not "committing to any date" and warned that if reconciliation isn't done by that time, Democratic leaders "absolutely shouldn't" assume that she will vote in favor of the infrastructure bill.
She stated, "I am committed to voting on these pieces of legislation together."
Pelosi met late Monday night, as she was confronted by a mutiny by nine moderates. They demanded that the $550billion infrastructure bill be voted on immediately and signed into law before moving to the larger bill.
As the House Rules Committee Chair Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) approved the motion, McGovern stated that "These negotiations are never simple." It takes a village, according to Hillary Clinton. It takes a therapist, I would add. The therapy session is done.
This procedural motion allowed the House to vote on John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act Tuesday. This legislation would allow states that have a history of discrimination to be granted federal "preclearance" for changes to their voting laws.
