R&I~Smit
“If it happens before the Build Back Better Act, I think it will be voted down. I know it will be voted down,” says progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman.
Sept. 30, 2021, 3:30 AM CDT
By Sahil Kapur
WASHINGTON — The House is bracing for a much-anticipated vote on a major infrastructure bill that doesn’t appear to have the support it needs to pass.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Wednesday that she wants it to pass Thursday, but she left wiggle room to delay the vote. The legislation, which passed the Senate last month, is opposed by scores of progressive Democratic lawmakers, who say they want progress on legislation to bolster the social safety net, called Build Back Better, to come first.
“If it happens before the Build Back Better Act, I think it will be voted down. I know it will be voted down,” said progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., counting himself among the “no” votes.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has promised that more than half the 95 members of the group will vote against the infrastructure bill if it comes up before the safety net bill.
The holdup is the result of a standoff between Democratic moderates, who want to de-link the two measures and pass the $550 billion infrastructure bill quickly, and progressive lawmakers, who are holding it up because they don’t trust centrists to support the bigger one without the smaller one.
Dr. GringoViejo
Article URL : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-braces-infrastructure-vote-progressive-democrats-vow-block-n1280379