Pelosi reaches deal with House moderates to advance Biden's $3.5T infrastructure goals
The compromise calls for Sept. 27 date to consider the bipartisan infrastructure package
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Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., discusses the ongoing infrastructure negotiations.
The House on Tuesday took a step forward on President Biden's infrastructure and social spending goals after Democratic leadership forged a deal with moderates who are leery of excessive spending.
The House voted 220-212 along party lines to advance Biden's $3.5 trillion budget blueprint that progressives want, while locking in assurances for moderates that the Senate-passed $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill will get a vote by Sept. 27.
"I am committing to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill by September 27," Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement Tuesday. "I do so with a commitment to rally House Democratic support for its passage."
The successful vote was a turnaround from a tense Monday, when 10 Democratic moderate lawmakers threatened to withhold their votes for the $3.5 trillion blueprint until the House first approved the bipartisan $1 trillion plan for more traditional physical infrastructure like roads, bridges, broadband and power grid improvements.
MODERATE DEMS DEMAND PELOSI HOLD STANDALONE INFRASTRUCTURE VOTE, THREATENING RECONCILIATION BILL
As part of the compromise with the moderates reached Tuesday, Democratic leadership strengthened language that will assure the House considers the Senate-passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill by Sept. 27. Pelosi had been insisting the bipartisan bill be linked to the passage of the $3.5 trillion budget to fully encapsulate Biden's spending agenda.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., acknowledged the hard slog it was to get Democrats on the same page, but said Tuesday they've worked through their differences.
"Democracy is messy," Jeffries said at a news conference at the Capitol. "Democrats are not a cult, we're a coalition."
The vote Tuesday was not on the final passage of the $3.5 trillion massive social spending bill, but rather the framework that will put the legislation in motion.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tasked his committee chairs to write up the thorny details of the proposals by Sept. 15 which will set up another dicey vote in the Senate. Already, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have expressed reservations about the magnitude of spending.
Republicans are unanimously opposed to the budget bill, so all 50 Democrats will need to be on board for the legislation to pass in the Senate before it heads to the House.
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The $3.5 trillion budget bill will be the vehicle for Democrats to pass liberal priorities such as universal pre-kindergarten, expanded Medicare access, two free years of community college, subsidized child care, extending the enhanced child tax credit, legalizing undocumented immigrants and green climate initiatives.
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.