Liberals recoil at Pelosi’s plan to hold infrastructure vote without social safety net bill
CNN
By Alex Rogers and Manu Raju, CNN
Liberals in the House Democratic Caucus recoiled at Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plan to hold a vote Thursday on a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill before striking a deal on a multi-trillion-dollar spending package expanding the social safety net.
Pelosi previously said the House would not take up the infrastructure bill, a key priority for moderate Democrats, until the negotiations over the other massive bill was done. Her strategy aimed to placate both ideological wings of her party as she leads a razor-thin majority.
But progressives predicted that House Democrats won’t have enough votes unless Pelosi acts on their bill known as the Build Back Better Act, which would bolster Medicare coverage, fund paid family and medical leave, strengthen child care support and education initiatives and address the climate crisis.
Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib called Pelosi’s move “a betrayal,” pledging to “hold the line” and vote down the infrastructure bill.
“Our caucus is strongest when it’s unified, and decoupling these bills, it starts to pit priorities against one another,” said New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “And that’s why I disagree with separating them.”
Illinois Rep. Jesús GarcÃa told CNN that he was concerned “that we could be hung out to dry” if he and other progressives help the House pass the infrastructure bill without a plan to pass their top priority. GarcÃa said that he will only vote for the infrastructure bill on Thursday “if we have agreement that both bills will go.”
GarcÃa added that moderates need to lay out their demands, and expressed his frustration that moderate Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona were slowing down the process.
“Given the traffic jam that we have of big items that need the action of Congress and the President, it’s very frustrating because they’re all very significant,” he said. “They impact the country, they impact our standing in the world, they impact the financial markets, so it’s quite frustrating but I’m still hopeful that a solution is at hand.”
Asked about progressives’ view that he is dragging his feet, Manchin responded, “everybody has their own opinion.”
“A lot of work needs to be done,” added Manchin. “We are working in good faith. It may take awhile, but whatever it takes. We need to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill.”
Pelosi defended her reversal over her strategy to move the infrastructure package separately from the larger economic bill, which is still under negotiation with senators. Pelosi told reporters Tuesday that Democrats are hoping to move forward on the massive tax and spending bill “in the next day or so,” although there is currently no agreement.
Pelosi privately said in a House Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday that the reason for her shift is that there isn’t an agreement on the top-line number, according to sources, and that both the infrastructure bill and economic bill won’t be ready at the same time. She insisted they won’t compromise on their values, one of the sources said, and said they won’t move forward on the Democrats’ economic package until there’s an agreement with the Senate.
Meanwhile, liberals are getting impatient.
“Climate action can’t wait. Health care can’t wait. Child care can’t wait. Dreamers can’t wait. Education can’t wait. Housing can’t wait,” tweeted Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal. “Progressives are ready to pass the President’s entire Build Back Better agenda because working families and our communities can’t wait.”
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CNN’s Lauren Fox and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.
