Progressives say they’ll pass infrastructure and reconciliation; ‘We’re going to get it done’
Biden says he supports both of the bills and there’s no reason that both can’t be passed independently
Mitch Roschelle and Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett weigh in on the Democrats' spending plan on 'The Evening Edit'
Progressives in the Democrat Party seemed to have taken a page out of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s playbook and vowed Sunday that they will eventually pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and the hotly contested reconciliation package that comes with no Republican support.
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Just one week ago, Pelosi told ABC’s "This Week," that the House was going to pass the infrastructure bill. She said she never brings "bill to the floor that doesn’t have the votes."
The bill didn’t have the votes thanks to the progressive wing of the party—led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who demanded that the infrastructure legislation be tied with the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.
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Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a 96-member coalition, called the spending bill President Biden’s agenda "not some fringe wish list." She said last week that more than half of her caucus would vote down infrastructure to preserve reconciliation.
Jayapal told MSNBC on Sunday that Democrats will "get it all done."
"Every single member of my caucus has said we’re going to vote for that bill as long as we get the reconciliation bill that has the rest of the very important priorities that the president laid out," she said.
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Biden said on Saturday that he supports both of the bills and there’s no reason that both can’t be passed independently. Pelosi set a new deadline for the end of October for an infrastructure vote.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told "Face the Nation" on Sunday that moderate Democrats seem unwilling to come to the table to talk about the plans while "progressives are trying to skin this cat nine different ways."
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"This is the issue, is that we’re saying, ‘OK, we’re going down from $6 trillion to $3 trillion, now it’s $1 trillion, and we have some of these conservatives that say, "Well, our line is zero, and you’re lucky if you get $1," she said.
Sen Joe Manchin, D-WVa., indicated that he would be willing to support a topline figure of $1.5 trillion for the reconciliation package.
Biden, by insisting that both bills pass, gave a nod to the progressives’ strategy, while floating the lower numbers meant acknowledging the compromise with centrists to come.
The Associated Press contributed to this report