House Dems struggle toward infrastructure vote
Published Date: 9/30/2021
Source: CNBC Television
NBC's Sahil Kapur reports on the struggle in the Democratic Party to get legislation passed. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi President Joe Biden spent his Thursday talking to key senators and Democratic leaders in Congress, trying to break an intra-party stalemate that threatens his entire domestic agenda. But shortly before midnight, it was clear that neither Biden nor Democratic leaders in Congress had managed to broker a deal yet between a group of progressive House members and two moderate Democrats in the Senate, each of whom is refusing to vote in favor of the others’ priorities until their own goals are met first. “A great deal of progress has been made this week, and we are closer to an agreement than ever,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement late Thursday. “But we are not there yet, and so, we will need some additional time to finish the work, starting tomorrow morning first thing.” Biden’s schedule on Friday is open, much as it has been all this week. Psaki said Thursday that this is so the president can be available to congressional leaders and key stakeholders in the House and Senate throughout the day. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left the Capitol just after midnight on Friday morning, she told reporters, “There will be a vote today,” meaning Friday. For White House aides who had hoped for a last-minute breakthrough, Thursday’s postponed vote is a disappointment. The $500 billion infrastructure and jobs package is a pillar of Biden’s domestic agenda, and fulfills bedrock campaign promises he made. But Thursday’s failure to launch isn’t really a death blow for the bill itself. Its benefits and costs will be felt by Americans for the next decade or more, so whether it passes the House on Friday, or next Monday or next Friday is immaterial. With stakes so high, it’s little wonder the president has focused his energy almost entirely on Congress this week. On Monday and Tuesday, he hosted the two key senators, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, for one-on-one meetings at the White House. A scheduled presidential trip to Chicago on Wednesday was called off at the last minute so that Biden could huddle at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while his negotiators met with Sinema on the Hill. On Thursday, again, much of Biden’s schedule was left open so he could participate in negotiations. Pelosi and Biden have been trying to win support for the infrastructure bill among progressives, who say they will not vote for it unless the House is also ready to pass a sweeping budget reconciliation bill to expand the social safety net and climate policy. But fundamental parts of that bill are still being debated in the Senate. House progressives are worried that if they vote to pass an infrastructure bill championed by moderates, they will lose any leverage they have in pushing these same moderates to back a transformative budget bill later on. Progressives also insist that any budget reconciliation bill be at least $3 trillion, and include provisions like free preschool and community college, child-care subsidies and an expansion of Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing care. » Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision » Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC » Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide. The News with Shepard Smith is CNBC’s daily news podcast providing deep, non-partisan coverage and perspective on the day’s most important stories. Available to listen by 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT daily beginning September 30: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/the-news-with-shepard-smith-podcast.html?__source=youtube%7Cshepsmith%7Cpodcast Connect with CNBC News Online Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/ Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC Follow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC https://www.cnbc.com/select/best-credit-cards/ #CNBC #CNBCTV