Unless the infrastructure bill is completed, “I cannot in good conscience vote to begin the reconciliation process,” she wrote.
This year, Vice President Joe Biden called on Congress to enact the infrastructure plan as swiftly as possible, and now the group’s members believe they are doing just that. The president, according to administration insiders, never backed moving either the infrastructure package or the budget framework ahead of the other. This position has irritated many officials.
According to White House press secretary Andrew Bates: “He has been clear that he wants both bills on his desk and looks forward to signing each,” Bates said in an email statement. Speaker Pelosi’s proposed rule change allows for consideration of the “Build Back Better” agenda, the historic bipartisan infrastructure measure, and important voting rights legislation.
Martin Walsh, the labour secretary; Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary; Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary; Shalanda Young, the acting head of the White House Office of Management and Budget; Louisa Terrell, the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs; and Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council, are among those who have called the nine Democrats in recent days.
A person familiar with the calls tells the New York Times that the officials sought to alleviate moderates’ fears that Vice President Biden would sign the larger spending bill without the infrastructure bill; they also signalled support for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s push to pass both bills by Oct.
1. Some government officials have emphasised the benefits of the wider law, including plans to cut the cost of prescription pharmaceuticals. They have said.
Ms. Pelosi and her top aides, supported by dozens of progressive Democrats, remain steadfast in their belief that the infrastructure vote will only take place once the Senate adopts the budget package.
Senior Democrats have presented a vote in favour of the budget blueprint as an opportunity to change critical legislation and guarantee that party policies are passed in a series of open letters to members over the last week.
Representative Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon, the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a harsh critic of the bipartisan deal, wrote:
“Ensuring a bicameral reconciliation process, with true input from the House prior to the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure legislation, is essential to advance critical Democratic priorities on infrastructure and so much more.”
