The White House insisted President Joe Biden was still in control of congressional Democrats as intraparty squabbling threatens the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal and the $3.5 trillion partisan social welfare and climate-focused reconciliation bill.
“This is how democracy works,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday. “I know it feels foreign because there wasn’t much that happened over the last couple of years.”
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When pressed on how voters will perceive the scramble, Psaki said, “Policymaking is messy.” But she was adamant in believing the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were committed to a bipartisan infrastructure deal vote on Thursday.
“We’re working towards winning a vote tonight. We have several hours left in the day,” she said.
However, Pelosi may have to scrap plans to hold a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure deal Thursday, as liberal Democrats in her caucus have yanked their support unless they have a more concrete agreement regarding the reconciliation bill. Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have repeatedly said they would not back a $3.5 trillion measure.
The White House understands “what progressive members want,” according to Psaki. But she reiterated that Democrats need “all 50 votes in the Senate to move this forward.”
The White House has been criticized for not supporting the bills strongly enough. Psaki said Biden did not have a whiteboard tallying votes for his own agenda, describing him instead as “a paper and pen guy.”
“He’s picking up the phone and calling people as needed,” she said.
While the infrastructure-plus negotiations have dominated headlines, Congress is also grappling with the prospect of a federal government shutdown on Oct. 1 and the U.S. Treasury running out of money to pay its debts on Oct. 18 unless Congress extends the country’s borrowing limit.
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The Senate passed a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution on Thursday afternoon to keep the government open until December. The House is expected to pass the bill Thursday afternoon so Congress can send the legislation to Biden for his signature by midnight.
