9 Democrats’ letter reiterates threat to spurn $3.5 trillion plan

WASHINGTON — Nine moderate House Democrats told Speaker Nancy Pelosi that they will not vote for a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint until a Senate-approved infrastructure bill clears the chamber, a posture that underscored divisions within the party that stand to undermine President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.

The pledge, in a letter released early Friday, is a major rift that threatens the carefully choreographed, twotrack effort by congressional Democrats and the Biden administration to enact both a trillion-dollar, bipartisan infrastructure deal and an even more ambitious — but partisan — social-policy measure.

Liberal Democrats have demanded the opposite timeline as their moderate counterparts, leaving Pelosi in a tough bind.

The nine House members are more than enough to block consideration of the budget blueprint in a House where Democrats hold a three-seat majority.

The Senate passed the infrastructure bill Tuesday with 69 votes, including 19 Republicans. It then approved, on a party-line vote early Wednesday, a $3.5 trillion budget resolution that, if passed by the House, would allow Democrats in both chambers to assemble the social-policy bill this fall without fear of a Republican filibuster in the Senate.

The budget resolution opens the door to significant overhauls in health care, education, immigration and the tax code. The infrastructure package sets aside $1.2 trillion to improve the country’s roads, bridges, pipelines, ports and internet connec

tions.

Biden has sought passage of the two bills in tandem, particularly as he tries to strike a balance between both wings of his party. On Friday, the White House steered clear of engaging the Democratic dispute directly: Without commenting on the order of operations, press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement that the administration remains “confident” the House will adopt both economic packages after successful votes in the Senate this week.

“America needs to make long overdue investments in highways and bridges; to remove lead drinking water pipes that damage the health of our children; and to connect everyone to the internet,” Psaki added. “America also needs to help families with their living expenses: bringing down the costs of child care and health care; extending the tax cut for 40 million families; and promoting clean, affordable energy. Both are essential, and we are working closely with Speaker Pelosi and the leadership to get both to the president’s desk.”

Still, the proposals have created a rift among some Democrats over which, exactly, should come first.

Earlier this spring, the 96-member Congressional Progressive Caucus issued the first ultimatum, telling Democratic leadership that its bloc would not vote to advance an infrastructure bill without first adopting the budget. The caucus has faulted the $1.2 trillion package for falling far short of the spending they see as necessary to tackle issues including climate change, so they have insisted the House and Senate must begin its work by acting on the budget.

“Our caucus is clear: the bipartisan bill will only be passed if a package of social, human, and climate infrastructure — reflecting long-standing Democratic priorities — is passed simultaneously through budget reconciliation,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chairwoman of the group, said Friday.

Pelosi has called the House back early from its summer recess to consider the budget resolution the week of Aug. 23. To assuage the progressives, Pelosi promised that she would not send the infrastructure bill to a vote in the House until the Senate passed the social-policy bill. The liberal progressives fear that once the infrastructure bill is signed, moderate Democrats in the House and Senate will withdraw their support for the far-reaching measure.

Pelosi told the fuller Democratic caucus on a call this week that the bipartisan infrastructure deal, while welcome, “ain’t the whole vision,” according to a source familiar with the conversation, who requested anonymity to describe the private gathering.

But that social-policy bill might not pass until well into the fall, if ever, given the 50-50 partisan split in the Senate. That prospect has not sat well with moderates, who have harbored concerns for months about the size and scope of the $3.5 trillion budget — and the means by which Democrats may try to pay for it using tax increases.

That prompted the bloc to issue its own ultimatum Thursday, saying infrastructure must come first.

“Some have suggested that we hold off on considering the Senate infrastructure bill for months — until the [budget] reconciliation process is completed. We disagree,” said the letter from moderates. “With the livelihoods of hardworking American families at stake, we simply can’t afford months of unnecessary delays and risk squandering this once-in-a-century, bipartisan infrastructure package. It’s time to get shovels in the ground and people to work.”

The draft letter was signed by Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Filemon Vela of Texas, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Ed Case of Hawaii, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Carolyn Bourdeaux of Georgia, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Jim Costa of California.

Virtually all of them are from swing districts or areas of the country that shifted toward former President Donald Trump.

With the promised defections from the Progressive Caucus, it would appear that Pelosi faces a stalemate, lacking the votes to either deliver the infrastructure bill to the president’s desk or advance the budget resolution needed to protect the final legislation from Republican obstruction.

On Friday, Pelosi was sticking to her position that the “hard infrastructure” legislation, which funds roads, bridges, tunnels, rail, transit and broadband, must be packaged with the social-policy bill, or what Democrats are calling “soft infrastructure” — social welfare and climate-change projects, financed by significant tax increases on wealthy individuals and corporations.

Senior leadership aides framed it as a numbers game: Scores of Democrats say they will not vote for one without the other, versus the nine on record who want action now on infrastructure.

But one side will have to blink.

Until now, most congressional Democrats had been optimistic that both measures could find enough support.

“This is President Biden’s agenda, this is the Democrats’ agenda, this is what we ran on and we need to deliver,” Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a leader in the Progressive Caucus, said of the social-policy bill. “It is important for us not to miss the mark, and I don’t see a conflict.”

But her moderate colleagues do.

“We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law,” they wrote.

That sentiment may go beyond the nine. Other more moderate Democrats, who declined to sign, also have said they very much want an immediate vote on the infrastructure bill.

“This is a once-in-a-generation infrastructure bill, and I think we should strike while the iron is hot,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. “We should bring it to the House and vote on it as soon as possible.”