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“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and a group of centrist House Democrats worked to break a deadlock Monday night over the party’s legislative strategy, as leaders tried to unify the party’s rival wings. The fight centers on Democratic leaders’ plans to yoke together two pieces of legislation: a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill that the Senate passed earlier this month with bipartisan support and a $3.5 trillion package of healthcare, education and climate policies that lacks GOP backing and could take months to complete…
“Earlier this month, the group of nine centrists said they would vote against the $3.5 trillion budget blueprint—the first step toward advancing the broader budget bill—unless the House votes first on the infrastructure package, sending it to President Biden’s desk. Meanwhile, liberal Democrats have promised to oppose the infrastructure package unless it comes up after the Senate has passed the $3.5 trillion budget package, a move they see as a way to pressure centrists to support the budget legislation.” Wall Street Journal
On Sunday, the nine centrist House Democrats argued in the Washington Post that the House should immediately pass the infrastructure bill and then consider the reconciliation package. Washington Post
Here’s our recent coverage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The Flip Side
The right is supportive of the centrist Democrats and opposes the reconciliation bill.
“Last week, nine House Democrats proved that sanity can appear across party lines, and called on Pelosi to drop the politicking and let the bipartisan plan pass without delay. They put their constituents and country above partisan manipulation and maneuvering, and in response, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives dismissed their appeal as ‘amateur hour.’…
“[Pelosi] must not trust that what she’s selling has much merit; otherwise, she’d let the House members do their job: deliberate on and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill that the Senate already sent over. Then, once it is shared with her fellow Americans, deliberate on the partisan non-infrastructure boondoggle.”
Heather Reams, The Hill
“Let’s hope the moderates stick to their principles. They’re right to stand up to Pelosi. Not only is a progressive, partisan spending spree bad for a recovering economy; voting for it, whenever it comes up, means political suicide in swing districts come next year’s midterms…
“Another reason for moderates to be wary: President Joe Biden’s plummeting approval ratings, down 10 points in a month — and not just because of his Afghanistan debacle. The public is souring on a prez whose words defy reality across the board, from the economy to border security. His rosy predictions of prosperity from his over-the-top spending plan deserve no more trust than his claims about having planned for all Afghan contingencies.”
Editorial Board, New York Post
“The collapse of Afghanistan introduces a wild card. President Biden’s honeymoon is over. His approval ratings are plunging… Parties in power tend to have more defectors from their legislative agenda when their president loses popularity. That dynamic intensifies when there is a midterm election coming and voters can only vent their frustration on Congress. Moderates in contested districts may suddenly feel more pressure to show their independence from the White House…
“But foreign-policy failure could also drive Democrats together. A party that just suffered such a major setback abroad can’t afford a self-inflicted defeat on domestic policy, too. Fear of going home to the voters empty-handed could well bring both moderates and progressives to the table to find some way to ensure that something passes for everyone. Their date with the voters may concentrate their minds wonderfully.”
Dan McLaughlin, New York Post
Critics argue that “This is mainly about process, not substance. The nine Democratic holdouts want to vote on infrastructure now, but tomorrow they’re prepared to roll over for $3.5 trillion in spending and new entitlements, which is what really matters. ‘I’ve literally said to my colleagues, ‘Let’s vote on the infrastructure bill, and then, like, 15 minutes later we can start debate on the budget resolution and vote on it the next day,’’ Rep. Josh Gottheimer told a reporter…
“Mrs. Pelosi knows that Democrats are likely to lose the House in 2022. Midterm elections are rarely kind to the sitting President’s party, even when he hasn’t bungled a military evacuation of Afghanistan. Mrs. Pelosi’s goal is to pass historic legislation to cement Democratic additions to the entitlement state. She’ll almost surely retire if Democrats lose the House. The left gets what it wants, Mrs. Pelosi goes down as a progressive hero, and the centrist Democrats get used as political cannon fodder.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
The left is supportive of Pelosi’s strategy and urges her to do whatever it takes to preserve both bills.
The left is supportive of Pelosi’s strategy and urges her to do whatever it takes to preserve both bills.
“A couple of the rebels appear to be signaling that their cooperation with Pelosi could be secured by concessions on the reconciliation bill that could complicate its passage significantly (e.g., Gottheimer wants restoration of a state and local tax write-off killed in the 2017 Trump tax cut bill, and Costa wants to protect large-farm owners from estate-tax exposure)…
“Pelosi will try to get the dissenters down to the magic number of three, enabling not only the rule but the budget resolution to pass, keeping the original timetable in place even as bicameral negotiations over the reconciliation bill continue. The White House could get involved as well with both carrots and sticks; some of the most politically vulnerable rebels may be tempted to go along via promises of extra campaign help or even post-congressional appointments if they lose next year…
“And both congressional Democratic leaders and the White House will be in touch with progressives to secure agreement on specific concessions offered to moderates (perhaps including the tax goodies Gottheimer and Costa want)… But time is running short for legislative high jinks, and it will take all of Pelosi’s great skills to get through the week unscathed.”
Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine
“The conservative Democrats are badly misrepresenting the situation… Gottheimer laughably claimed House progressives are ‘holding the president’s priority hostage.’ This is nonsense: President Biden has endorsed the two-track strategy: He recently declared that he hopes House Democrats will ‘eventually put two bills on my desk, one on infrastructure, and one on reconciliation.’ And on Monday, a White House spokesman stressed that Biden wants ‘both bills on his desk.’…
“So what happens now? The conservative Democrats may simply fold, and vote to move the reconciliation bill forward. But it may also be necessary to give them a way to save face first. Several procedural experts point to a way to do that: The House could pass the infrastructure bill and move the reconciliation process forward, but Pelosi could effectively refrain from sending the infrastructure bill to the president until the Senate sends over a completed reconciliation bill… [This would give] the conservative Democrats a concession on timing, while preserving the two-track strategy.”
Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent, Washington Post
“‘Human infrastructure’ and ‘Build Back Better’ sound rather nebulous, but in truth, much of the appeal of that social spending bundle centers on health care… The [reconciliation] plan would set reasonable drug prices, [Biden] explained, but would also cap ‘the amount that seniors have to spend on prescription drugs each year at no more than about $3,000 a year.’… [And] the Senate-passed reconciliation instructions include expanding Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing benefits…
“This would be the first significant expansion of Medicare benefits in decades and would put Republicans in the position of opposing a policy that seniors strongly support… As Pelosi threads her way between nine obstreperous moderate Democrats insisting on a vote on infrastructure first and more than 100 progressives who won’t vote for that without first approving the budget plan with the popular health-care measures, no one should lose track of the Democrats’ end game.”
Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post