A massive infrastructure and social spending package stalled Monday after centrist Democrats threatened to vote against part of the deal.
A group of roughly 10 Democrats engaged in a standoff with top leaders Monday night over a planned vote to pass a $3.5 trillion budget resolution as early as Tuesday.
Before advancing the resolution, the centrists demand the House to vote on a Senate-passed, bipartisan infrastructure package that would spend $1.2 trillion on roads, bridges, waterways, and expanded broadband.
DEMOCRATS’ SPENDING AGENDA ON THE LINE IN MONDAY VOTE
Most Democrats oppose taking up this infrastructure package first because they want a guarantee that centrists will back the larger spending measure, which would pay for an array of social welfare programs, such as free universal preschool, expanded Medicare benefits, and paid family leave.
Democratic leaders emerged from a closed-door meeting with some of the centrist lawmakers late Monday and were unsure when the House would vote next.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, had offered moderates a deal: She would pledge to take up the infrastructure package by October and allow moderates to escape a vote on the budget resolution by allowing it to pass in a procedural vote setting the rules for debate.
But centrists appeared hesitant to accept the deal as of late Monday, and a plan to vote on a combined rule for both the infrastructure and budget resolution was postponed.
The group is led by New Jersey Democrat Josh Gottheimer, who tweeted Monday he wants the infrastructure bill passed quickly so President Joe Biden can sign it into law.
“We cannot hold a major priority — like the bipartisan infrastructure bill — hostage,” Gottheimer warned Monday. “The House should vote on the bill, send it to the President’s desk ASAP, and then immediately turn to the budget resolution, which I will support. The creation of 2M jobs a year is on the line.”
Pelosi has attempted to use pressure tactics to sway the centrists, warning their demands could upend the entire Democratic spending agenda at a rare moment when the party controlled both Congress and the White House.
Democrats frame the deal as an opportunity to invest trillions of federal dollars in top liberal wish list items. The measure would pay for free community college and major green energy initiatives. It would also extend the child tax credit.
In a letter to Democrats Monday, Pelosi said it would be “essential” to “keep the historic leverage for the children” by passing the budget bill first.
The centrist group did not attend a closed-door caucus meeting Monday afternoon.
The stalled package could be just the first obstacle in passing the spending package.
Some centrist Democrats in both the House and Senate are unhappy with the size and cost of the $3.5 trillion measure.
Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, wants to lower the cost. He urged House Democrats to pass the infrastructure bill, which won bipartisan support in the Senate and is poised to garner dozens of GOP votes in the House.
“It would send a terrible message to the American people if this bipartisan bill is held hostage,” Manchin warned.
Meanwhile, House liberals say the $3.5 trillion measure should be increased, while the infrastructure bill falls short on mass transit and green energy provisions.
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Democratic leaders hoped to avoid gridlock by employing the two-step approach of passing the social spending package first, followed by the infrastructure bill.
“The success of each bill,” Pelosi told Democrats Monday, “contributes to the success of the other.”
