Policy disagreements within the Democratic party have imperiled President Joe Biden’s economic agenda, as Congressional votes on a $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill and a separate $3.5 trillion reconciliation package have stalled.
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the wrangling is all part of the legislative process. She delivered our quote of the day.
“This is how democracy works. I know it feels foreign because there wasn’t much of that happening over the last couple of years.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
The Democratic in-fighting pits progressives who want to pass both bills in tandem versus Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have expressed reservations about the larger package’s price tag.
Earlier Thursday, Manchin told reporters, if progressives want a bigger reconciliation bill, they should “elect more liberals.” He added, “I’ve never been a liberal in any way, shape, or form.”
Manchin said he wants the reconciliation bill trimmed to $1.5 trillion. Axios adds, “He said that for any of the components left out of a $1.5 trillion package, Democrats should ‘take that on the campaign trail next year, and I’m sure that you’ll get many more liberal progressive Democrats with what they say they want.'”
Manchin also criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi promise to link the infrastructure bill with the larger social spending package, saying “No two bills should ever be linked together to the point where you’re going to let perfect be the enemy of the good.”
Pelosi has maintained that the House will vote on the infrastructure bill at some point on Thursday, but the Congressional Progressive Caucus plans to block it unless a deal is reached on the other package.
“If we do have a vote, then we’ll vote it down and then continue the negotiations,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus told CNN Wednesday night.
