Just a few days after threatening to derail a bipartisan infrastructure deal, Democrats backed off from a warning on Tuesday that they would block any bill that is not accompanied by a second, massive spending package.
Two top House Democrats told reporters they support passing new infrastructure funding along with a bevy of other social spending measures that would provide free child care, free community college, expanded free healthcare, and billions in green energy initiatives at a cost that could approach $5 trillion.
But neither House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, nor caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York repeated threats issued last week that the bipartisan infrastructure bill heralded by President Joe Biden is contingent on passing the second, bigger spending bill.
“I don’t know that I would use the word ‘contingent,’” Jeffries told reporters. “These are priorities that we have that are broadly shared throughout the House Democratic Caucus. I think the speaker and the majority leader have been clear about how we’re going to proceed, and I expect they’ll continue to be clear about how we will proceed moving forward in the weeks to come.”
Hoyer also dodged tying the two bills together.
Hoyer told reporters the provisions in both measures are a priority for Democrats, who he said “are unified” behind Biden. But he also acknowledged the party is not in lockstep when it comes to the size and scope of the spending.
“There are a number of different views,” Hoyer said, “but I think we will come together in support of the president’s proposals.”
A group of 10 Senate Republicans and Democrats and Biden announced last week they reached an agreement on a $1 trillion spending package on traditional infrastructure projects.
Biden nearly derailed the new agreement later in the day by threatening to veto the measure if the second, bigger spending package is not passed “in tandem” with it.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders issued similar threats.
“We will not take up a bill in the House until the Senate passes the bipartisan bill and a reconciliation bill,” Pelosi said last week. “If there is no bipartisan bill, then we’ll just go when the Senate passes a reconciliation bill.”
The warnings from Democrats threatened to derail the nascent deal.
Republicans accused Biden of backtracking. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called Biden’s threat “extortion” and said the GOP’s buy-in was not based on the passage of the second, bigger spending deal that none of them would support.
On Sunday, Biden walked back the veto threat, which he said “understandably upset some Republicans, who do not see the two plans as linked.”
Biden said “it was certainly not my intent” to issue a veto threat.
