Nancy Pelosi Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker (D-Calif.), gathered her caucus Monday night for a closed-door meeting to prepare for the "week of hell" that one House Democrat described. Worst-case scenario: Democrats will end the week without passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill, their $3.5 trillion Build Back Better package dead upon arrival, and with the government partially shutdown with very limited time and options to avoid default.
Although it is unlikely that Democrats will allow the government to shut down, a standoff between some centrist and progressive Democrats could well cause President Biden to abandon his domestic agenda. Pelosi stated during the 90-minute meeting Thursday that the House would still vote on the infrastructure bill (BIF) Thursday, even without any commitment from hardball centrists. She also claimed that it will not be more than $3.5 trillion as Biden and most Democrats have hoped.
The Washington Post reports that Pelosi and a list of congressional allies, including some of the most vulnerable candidates in the House, made the case Monday night for unity among the party’s increasingly discordant liberal-moderate ranks. The 2022 vulnerable incumbents, commonly known as "frontliners" on the Hill, stressed that they share Biden's goal and that failure to pass any bill would be more devastating.
Afterward, progressives stated that they might still kill the infrastructure bill on Thursday with no significant movement on the BBB Package. However, Politico reports that there has been "a softening of Democratic negotiations." "Progressives are no longer insisting on $3.5 trillion in expenditure; they are less focused on the top line number than on what programs make it into this plan. Moderates have, however, made it clear that they support a reconciliation bill, but one with a lower price tag.
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The New York Times reports that the Senate centrists Joe Manchin (D.W.Va.), and Kyrsten Sinema, (D.Ariz.), are still present at Tuesday's fundraiser. They were invited by business lobbyists who fiercely oppose the BBB package. "What's holding it up is a few senators that aren't giving us any clarity as to their eventual destination," stated Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Caucus Chair (D-N.Y.). "That's the problem right now. We have to solve it within the next few days.
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