Dragging late into the evening Thursday, negotiations between progressive caucus members, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the White House ultimately failed to reach a conclusion that allowed Pelosi to bring the $1.2 trillion bill to the floor for a vote on September 30 as she’d insisted she would.
After an evening recess that kept getting extended, Pelosi sent a “dear colleague” letter that provided slim to no details and didn’t offer any timeline for an eventual vote on the infrastructure package despite her assurances there would be a vote on Thursday.
The failure to close the deal is a significant defeat not just for Pelosi but also for President Biden who desperately needs a success to tout after a number of crises left him on the ropes when it comes to job approval among the American people. With the 2022 midterms just over one year away, this latest defeat threatens to further endanger Nancy Pelosi’s razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.