An intensifying family fight among congressional Democrats leaves considerable doubt about whether House lawmakers can push through a Senate-passed infrastructure bill despite leaders’ pledges that will happen on Friday.
House Democratic leaders, struggling to find the votes to pass President Joe Biden’s infrastructure legislation, told lawmakers they planned to finish consideration of the measure on Friday despite significant opposition.
House Democrats huddled in a closed-door meeting early Friday, a day after they had planned to pass a bipartisan infrastructure package that is a central component of Biden’s economic agenda.
Democratic leaders postponed the vote on Thursday after dozens of lawmakers in the House Progressive Caucus threatened to defeat it.
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On Friday, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer informed lawmakers the legislation remains on the schedule for complete consideration, which includes a vote at some point in the day.
“I do think there’s an opportunity to put it on the floor,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, said as he headed into a meeting with party lawmakers Friday.
But Democrats don’t have enough support to pass the bill.
On Friday morning, Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal said dozens of lawmakers in her caucus are still waiting for Senate Democrats to provide the framework of legislation for a social welfare spending package with a price tag as high as $3.5 trillion. Democrats also want a guarantee it will pass the Senate.
“I have consistently said that we need a vote in the Senate because I want to make sure that there are no delays, that there are no mix-ups, that there are no mixed understandings about what the deal is,” Jayapal said.
The Senate does not convene for votes until next week, but key Senate negotiators are in talks with Biden in search of an accord with centrists in their caucus, led by Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Manchin announced he will not back the $3.5 trillion measure House Democrats hope to pass. Manchin said lawmakers should spend no more than $1.5 trillion and pay for it by reforming the tax code with smaller tax hikes than the party had planned in the larger bill. Manchin called the $3.5 trillion plan “fiscal insanity.”
Manchin said he opposes the “vindictive” tax hikes imposed in the Democratic plan, authored by Neal and his tax-writing committee. Among the differences, Manchin backs a top corporate tax rate of 25%, which is lower than the 26.5% rate Neal included in the legislation.
Neal told reporters on Friday he believes the final legislation should maintain the tax reforms written by the Democrats on his panel.
In addition to Manchin, House Democrats must come to an agreement with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, who is also opposed to the $3.5 trillion legislation and wants to lower the cost and change key policy provisions.
Senate Democrats hope to pass the legislation with 51 votes using a special budgetary tactic. They control only 50 seats, which means every lawmaker in their party, including Manchin and Sinema, must vote in favor of the bill in order for Vice President Kamala Harris to cast a tiebreaking vote to pass the legislation.
Still, Jayapal said she believes Democrats can reach a deal, although she could not predict when it will happen.
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“I’m going to do all the work I can to get it done,” the Washington state Democrat said. “Hopefully, it can be soon.”
Jayapal said Democrats await a firm offer from the Senate.
“We have been waiting for an offer to counter $3.5 trillion that is on the table, and we understand that we’re going to have to get everybody on board in order to be able to close this deal,” Jayapal said. “So, we’re waiting for that. And I believe there are really good conversations happening at the White House with those senators on what that offer is going to be.”
