Why progressives say they aren’t backing down on infrastructure bill
Why progressives say they aren’t backing down
From CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox
The progressive outcry against the planned vote on President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package didn’t just hold, according to several members it actually grew in numbers over the course of the day.
With 24 hours until Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged to hold the infrastructure vote, something needs to unlock, and fast, for Biden and Democratic leaders to have any hope of success.
“Nobody wants to blink, everyone thinks the other side is about to,” said one source involved in the negotiations. “Neither is right about that, which puts us in a very bad place.”
With House Democratic leadership’s self-imposed September 30 deadline to put the infrastructure vote on the floor now a day away, House progressives aren’t budging.
House moderates are still demanding the vote. And Pelosi’s not one to violate her own policy that she won’t go to the floor without knowing she’s going to win.
Right now, progressives claim to have dozens of members ready to vote against Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and there’s been absolutely no indication this is a bluff.
Progressives feel burned. They feel like they are always accepting less to get something and after nine months, they want to prove they aren’t kidding when they say they are standing firm.
“How many bills have we passed in the House that the Senate has not taken up? What about on voting rights? What about the George Floyd Justice in policing? This is not about trust. This is about verify,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the leader of the progressive caucus, said Tuesday.
Read more about where things stand here.
Pelosi says she has authority to delay tomorrow’s bipartisan infrastructure bill vote
From CNN’s Manu Raju, Daniella Diaz, and Morgan Rimmer
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has the authority to delay tomorrow’s vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill during a back-and-forth with a reporter in a gaggle after a caucus meeting.
“The Speaker has that authority (to delay the vote), but I want it to pass. So what we wanted to do is to pass tomorrow, and anything that strengthens the hand of the Speaker helps pass the bill,” she said during the gaggle.
On the debt ceiling rule today, Pelosi said she doesn’t have “patience” for the handful of moderates who don’t support a separate vote on raising the debt ceiling and could block the bill.
“We have a responsibility to uphold the full faith and credit of the United States of America. That’s what we have to do. These members have all voted for this last week. So if they’re concerned about how it might be in an ad, it’s already in an ad. It’s already in an ad, so let us give every confidence, every step of the way that we will do that. We cannot predicate our actions in the House on what could happen in the Senate, we can when we’re coming to agreement on a bill, but in terms of this. I have no patience for people not voting for (this),” she said.
White House economic adviser paints an optimistic picture of the current state of play
From CNN’s Betsy Klein
White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein painted an optimistic picture of Biden’s economic agenda Wednesday, one day before a planned House vote on the bipartisan infrastructure package that progressives are threatening to tank. The infrastructure vote is scheduled just hours before the government could shut down if Congress does not pass a spending bill – and this, just weeks before the US could default if the debt limit is not raised.
Bernstein declined to say what price tag moderate Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is willing to be on board with, suggesting the administration doesn’t want to talk about the agenda in terms of specific spending amounts.
“We’re in the midst of real time negotiations. Rather than get into price tags, what I understand is under discussion is precisely the kinds of transformational investments I was just talking to you about. I actually think one of the least informative perspective is to talk about this trillion or that trillion, and much more important is to talk to growing the economy from the bottom up, and the middle out,” he said during an interview with CNN’s “New Day.”
Brnstein added, “Yes, there are negotiations to be made, and this President continues to leap over every legislative hurdle that has been put in front of him thus far. So I don’t think of this as the week from H-E-double hockey sticks as you were calling it a minute ago, I think it’s the as the week towards just essential investments in progress on behalf of the middle class.”
He declined to speculate on whether the bipartisan infrastructure bill will pass on Thursday, but touted the package’s “strong Democratic support.”
Pressed repeatedly on whether the White House is preparing for the possibility of default if action is not taken on the debt ceiling, Bernstein said, “Default is not an option,” going on to criticize Senate Republicans.
Describing a default as an “economic cataclysm,” he reiterated that default is not an option, adding that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “is doing everything he can to get around this Republican-imposed obstacle.
Here’s why the next 24 hours are crucial for Biden’s agenda and Congress
From CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox
In a moment when President Biden and Democratic leaders sought to create desperately needed momentum to pass key parts of the President’s agenda, everything appeared to turn in the exact opposite direction.
Biden’s meetings with two key Democratic moderates yielded nothing in the form of a tangible — and absolutely necessary — public commitment or acknowledgment of their preferred path forward.
The progressive outcry against the planned vote on Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package didn’t just hold, according to several members it actually grew in numbers over the course of the day.
With 24 hours until Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged to hold the infrastructure vote, something needs to unlock, and fast, for Biden and Democratic leaders to have any hope of success.
Where things stand now: With House Democratic leadership’s self-imposed September 30 deadline to put the infrastructure vote on the floor now a day away, House progressives aren’t budging. House moderates are still demanding the vote. And Pelosi’s not one to violate her own policy that she won’t go to the floor without knowing she’s going to win.
Right now, progressives claim to have dozens of members ready to vote against Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and there’s been absolutely no indication this is a bluff. Progressives feel burned. They feel like they are always accepting less to get something and after nine months, they want to prove they aren’t kidding when they say they are standing firm.
“How many bills have we passed in the House that the Senate has not taken up? What about on voting rights? What about the George Floyd Justice in policing? This is not about trust. This is about verify,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the leader of the progressive caucus, said Tuesday.
Between a government shutdown, a debt default, a sweeping infrastructure bill and society-transforming economic and climate package, all tied to some form of a looming deadline, the lack of clarity about how Biden, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pull it all off — or in Pelosi’s words “land the plane” — is palpable.
Read more about negotiations here.
Pelosi, without naming them, takes aim at key moderates Sinema and Manchin
From CNN’s Daniella Diaz
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed frustration at moderate Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, although without naming them directly.
During this morning’s Democratic caucus meeting she said President Biden is negotiating with lawmakers because he cares so much about both bills, according to a member in the room. She was referring to both the infrastructure and the reconciliation bill.
“We don’t have choices to make yet because we don’t know what the choices are,” she said referring to the reconciliation framework.
Pelosi at the start of the weekly Democratic whip meeting pushed hard on Democrats voting for a debt ceiling bill, according to a member who is participating.
She said Democrats can’t be “accomplices” to Republicans in failing to address the debt ceiling — clearly a suggestion at moderates who might not support the rule for the bill today.
House Democrats, especially progressives, have been privately and publicly frustrated over Sens. Manchin and Sinema’s refusal to publicly make their positions known or name a top line number they would accept for their party’s massive social and economic agenda.
Pelosi tells CNN they need to have “legislative language” on larger social safety net plan ahead of Thursday
From CNN’s Manu Raju, Daniella Diaz and Morgan Rimmer
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that they need to have legislative text on the larger Build Back Better Act agreed to by the White House to assure progressives ahead of Thursday vote on infrastructure. She didn’t rule out delaying the Thursday vote either but said they are moving ahead.
“I think we come to a place where we have agreement in legislative language — not just principles — in legislative language that the President supports. It has to meet his standard … then I think we will come together,” the speaker told CNN when asked about progressives’ threat to sink the infrastructure bill tomorrow.
Key moderate Sen. Joe Manchin told CNN “that won’t happen” when asked about Pelosi’s comments on needing a deal on “legislative language” with the White House on the larger economic plan to get progressives to support the infrastructure deal by tomorrow.
“No one has been negotiating along those lines with the other parties here,” he said.
“What we – all we need to do is pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, sit down, and start negotiating in good faith. That’s it,” Manchin said.
Note: This, of course, is the dilemma. Progressives want Manchin to sign onto legislative language he can support by tomorrow — or they’ll tank the infrastructure bill. He says pass the infrastructure bill first, then we’ll talk.
It will be very hard to get an agreement on legislative language by tomorrow.
Why this matters: The final vote on Biden’s $1.2 trillion Senate-passed infrastructure bill is slated for tomorrow — the same day Congress needs to reach an agreement to avoid a lapse in government funding.
Right now, progressives claim to have dozens of members ready to vote against Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and there’s been absolutely no indication this is a bluff. Progressives feel burned. They feel like they are always accepting less to get something and after nine months, they want to prove they aren’t kidding when they say they are standing firm.
The looming deadlines of a potential government shutdown on the same day as the infrastructure bill threaten to thwart Biden’s agenda.
CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox contributed reporting to this post.
“I think we’re going to get there” on debt limit vote today, House majority leader says
From CNN’s Manu Raju and Daniella Díaz
When asked by a reporter while exiting the caucus meeting about a possible debt ceiling vote today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said “I think we’re going to get there.”
On a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill for Thursday he said “we’ll see, I hope so.”
Some more context: Congress is barreling toward a mid-October deadline to raise the national debt limit, but Democrats and Republicans are locked in a stalemate over the issue with no clear resolution and the clock ticking down.
Democrats want Republicans to join with them in a bipartisan vote to suspend the debt limit, but Republicans insist they won’t do that and have called for Democrats to act on their own to address the issue.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled during a caucus meeting that Democrats are going to decouple the stopgap funding bill known as a continuing resolution to fund the government from the provision to raise the debt ceiling, according to a source in the meeting. This move could avoid a government shutdown because Republicans have said they will not vote for the stopgap bill if it includes the debt ceiling provision
CNN’s Annie Grayer, Clare Foran and Ali Zaslav contributed reporting to this post.
Pelosi’s message to Democratic caucus: Don’t be mad at the President, be mad at me
From CNN’s Lauren Fox and Daniella Diaz
The House Speaker’s message this morning during a caucus meeting was that members shouldn’t publicly blast President Biden on infrastructure and the reconciliation bill.
She also said the President is trying his best and dealing with moderates. She said he’s negotiating and you have to trust him.
“She was trying to appeal to people to do the right thing,” one member said.
Pelosi at the start of the weekly Democratic whip meeting pushed hard on Democrats voting for a debt ceiling bill, according to a member who is participating.
She said Democrats can’t be “accomplices” to Republicans in failing to address the debt ceiling — clearly a suggestion at moderates who might not support the rule for the bill today.
White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond also spoke during the weekly meeting and alluded to the Congressional baseball game tonight.
He made a metaphor about the baseball game and unity and being a team player … obviously referring to moderates and progressives divided in the caucus, according to the member who is participating.
Schumer: Senate could take action on a clean government funding bill to avert shutdown “as early as today”
From CNN’s Ali Zaslav
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Democrats will be introducing a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through early December and the Senate could take action on it “as early as today.”
Schumer said the Senate “can approve this measure quickly, and send it to the House so it can reach the President’s desk before funding expires midnight tomorrow.”
The CR includes emergency disaster relief and money for Afghan refugees, he said. Senate Republicans have said they would support a clean stop-gap funding bill that does not include a debt limit provision, which has now been stripped out.
“The Senate could take action as early as today to address a concern that demands the immediate attention of this chamber: funding the federal government beyond September 30,” Schumer said in a floor speech. “To prevent a government shutdown Senate Democrats will be introducing a continuing resolution that keeps the government open until early December, while also providing long sought emergency funding to help Americans still reeling from natural disasters from this summer, as well as funding to help resettle Afghan refugees.”
Schumer said once they fund the government, Congress still needs to “address the urgent matter of extending the debt ceiling.”
He said Democrats are working to find a solution to avoid a default, but “Republicans have stymied us at every opportunity.”
He repeated his strong criticism of Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and the GOP for opposing helping Democrats raise the debt ceiling.
“If we never did debt ceiling if we always let the debt ceiling lapse because one party or the other didn’t like some future action that the other party would take, we’d never do it. It’s an absurd argument,” Schumer argued.
He continued to say that Democrats have “offered Republicans multiple entirely reasonable ways to get out of the mess they’ve created. But instead of stepping aside and letting the responsible party address the debt limit, Republicans have chosen to actively obstruct… We’re just asking for Republicans to get out of the way. Get out of the way and let us do what they say they wanted us to do: raise the debt ceiling without their votes. Time is short. The danger is real.”
Democrats do have the option to raise the debt limit on their using budget reconciliation, but many Democrats have argued that the vote should be a bipartisan shared responsibility, and Schumer reiterated he believes going that route is too “risky” and could lead the country to default.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/5BrHCWmutBM/h_cc440d748f9bf4248ec9cf824e7d31cf
