Biden went to Capitol Hill last week to spin plates with his fellow Democrats

There were a lot of theories about what role President Joe Biden may take on late last week for a visit with House Democrats.

The touchstones of the President’s domestic agenda swung in the balance: a big infrastructure bill and the social spending package.

What hat might the President don for this conclave?

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Referee? Moderate Democrats and progressives were at each other’s throats for days over the infrastructure bill and the size of the social spending package. President Biden may have to sort out the conflict.

Salesman? Mr. Biden needed to convince someone to give in order to prevent his own party from undercutting his agenda.

How about closer? As in "baseball closer." You know, Aroldis Chapman/Josh Hader/Kenley Jansen closers. The guy they bring to the mound in the bottom of the ninth to wrap up the game. It was believed that President Biden waited until he absolutely needed to engage the Democratic Caucus in person. Thus, you come to Capitol Hill in the role of closer. Only the President could close the deal on a bill such as this.

It turns out Mr. Biden’s portrayal late last week on Capitol Hill was none of the above.

The President’s role? "Plate spinner in-chief."

The infrastructure package was stalled. It lacked the votes. There were disagreements between Democrats over the social spending plan.

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President Biden festooned all of these plates atop the poles. The plates gyrated around and around. Yet had Mr. Biden not done something, his legislative plates would have come spiraling off the poles and crashed onto the floor.

The President’s agenda last week on Capitol Hill was to simply run around to all of the different poles and give the plates a whirl. That would maintain the inertia and keep his from falling backward.

For now.

This is an operation of incrementalism. The President conceded the House lacked the votes to pass the infrastructure bill. Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., conceded her group would have to ask for less than $3.5 trillion on the social spending bill.

Moderate Democrats were apoplectic at the turn of events and incensed at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. She had promised centrist Democrats a vote on the infrastructure bill on Monday, September. 27. After the deadline slipped, Pelosi said repeatedly that she expected the House to vote on infrastructure.

It never happened.

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Rep.  Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., chairs the coalition of moderate Democrats known as the Blue Dogs. Murphy said she was "disillusioned" by the process and "profoundly disappointed."

Murphy also lit up liberals in her own party who held back support for the infrastructure bill.

"No member of Congress, and certainly no member of my own party, has the slightest leverage over my vote," said Murphy.

The co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., lashed out at Pelosi. Gottheimer said Pelosi had "breached" her agreement with moderate Democrats. He also declared that "this small faction on the far left" attempted to "destroy the President’s agenda." Gottheimer said liberals "put civility and bipartisan governing at risk."

There are dramatic fissures inside the Democratic Caucus.

It may not have been pretty. There may have been some political risk for the President coming to Capitol Hill and then failing to "seal the deal." But, Mr. Biden accomplished one goal: he kept the plates spinning.

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This battle is far from over. But here are observations as Democrats continue wrestling with their domestic agenda.

Jayapal demonstrated she controlled the votes to block the bipartisan infrastructure bill from forging ahead. Pelosi says she doesn’t go to the floor and lose. Jayapal prevented Pelosi from putting the infrastructure bill on the floor – despite multiple promises from the Speaker that the House would do infrastructure. Pelosi is one of the best vote counters to ever walk into the halls of the Capitol. But Jayapal passed her first big test.

Jayapal also demonstrated pragmatism by agreeing to reduce the cost of the social spending plan. But Jayapal got what she wanted: a delay on the infrastructure bill.

"You all didn’t believe me, but I kept saying we’re not going to have a vote," said Jayapal. "I kept telling [Pelosi] that we didn’t have the votes, and I knew she knew that."

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Jayapal estimated that more than 45 to 50 House liberals wouldn’t vote for the infrastructure bill. She made good on that promise. The House couldn’t vote. 

Pelosi was hamstrung by progressives withholding their votes on infrastructure. This underscores the liberal grip on the House Democratic Caucus.

It’s not fair to say that Pelosi is down for the count on this. But the drama surrounding the social spending bill and infrastructure package marks one of the few times the Speaker has failed to deliver. Granted, Pelosi is playing one of the most challenging hands ever dealt to her. However, historically, if anyone on Capitol Hill has operated as the "closer" over the years, it’s Pelosi. And if there’s going to be an eventual agreement, Pelosi will get much of the credit. So Pelosi lives to fight another day.

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But the plates continue spinning for now. President Biden was at least successful in that last week.

And when you walk around Capitol Hill, you can practically hear the Sabre Dance echoing through the halls as Democrats run around the stage, trying to keep the plates from clanging to the ground.