Pelosi says 'more time is needed' after admitting defeat on infrastructure bill: LIVE UPDATES
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted Friday night "more time is needed" to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that is one of the pillars of President Biden's agenda, after previously vowing to pass the measure this week.
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Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday accused Democratic leadership of "letting the radical left run Capitol Hill" after a bipartisan infrastructure bill stalled in the House amid demands from the far-left wing of the Democratic caucus that a $3.5 trillion spending package be passed first.
"Democratic leaders are letting the radical left run Capitol Hill," McConnell said in a statement.
"Socialists like Sen. Bernie Sanders rallied against the Administration’s infrastructure bill and defeated it. With Americans already suffering the worst inflation in 30 years, Democrats have taken our roads, bridges, ports, airports, and waterways hostage to ram through an historically reckless taxing and spending spree that would hurt families and help China."
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., on Saturday tore into Democratic leadership over what she described as an "inexcusable" failure to hold a vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill -- a move she said betrays the trust of the American people.
"The failure of the U.S. House to hold a vote on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is inexcusable, and deeply disappointing for communities across our country," the moderate Democrat said in a lengthy statement. "Denying Americans millions of good-paying jobs, safer roads, cleaner water, more reliable electricity, and better broadband only hurts everyday families."
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sent a "Dear Colleague" letter to Democrats Saturday, saying the infrastructure bill must pass "well before" Oct. 31.
"It’s about time! Yesterday, we extended the Thursday, September 30th legislative day to Friday, pushing to passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and to advance Build Back Better. But more time was needed to reach our goal of passing both bills, which we will," Pelosi kicked off the letter.
She added in another part that she wants the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed before Oct. 31.
"It’s about time! There is an October 31st Surface Transportation Authorization deadline, after last night’s passage of a critical 30-day extension. We must pass BIF well before then – the sooner the better, to get the jobs out there," she wrote.
"It’s about time! We all take great pride in the Rescue Package, which is a giant step in meeting the needs of the American people, putting hundreds of millions of vaccines of arms, money in people’s pockets, workers back in jobs and children safely back in school. There is an expiration date to some of the initiatives, so we need to extend them – for example, the Child Tax Credit, which took millions of children out of poverty, but which needs to be extended. Thanks to House Democrats’ Child Tax Credit Week of Action and indeed many more days of action, working with outside groups, we mobilized broad public support for this initiative. This is true of many aspects of the Rescue Package."
President Biden on Saturday told reporters that "everybody is frustrated" after two massive pieces of legislation stalled in Congress, as well as a debt limit increase, amid infighting among a divided Democratic caucus.
"Everybody is frustrated, it’s part of being in government, being frustrated," Biden told reporters on the White House lawn.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement Saturday that President Biden will continue talks with House and Senate members this weekend.
"As the President made clear yesterday during his meeting with the House Democratic Caucus, the American people are relying on Congress to get both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better plan done. These bold proposals will create millions of good-paying union jobs, make overdue investments in our nation’s infrastructure, lower the cost of childcare, eldercare and education, and take essential steps to address the climate crisis. He left the meeting yesterday with the firm belief that there was a shared commitment from across the Democratic Caucus to deliver for the American people," the statement said.
"The President and his team will continue close engagement with Members of both the House and the Senate through the weekend. And he looks forward to not only welcoming Members to the White House next week, but also traveling the country to make the case for his bold and ambitious agenda."
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez insisted early Saturday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had not broken any "promises" by not holding the bipartisan infrastructure vote by the end of September.
She tweeted that the "arbitrary" date was related to the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act.
"That bound $3.5T w/ Sept date. Challenging $3.5 also challenged their date," she wrote.
The congresswoman was one of several progressives who had threatened to sink the bipartisan bill if the $3.5 trillion spending measure wasn't included.
"That’s ok! Right > rushed," she added. "We can still Build Back Better… together!"
Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota called his optimism over the bipartisan infrastructure bill "authentic" but "clearly misguided."
"Apologies to all who were inspired by my hopefulness. But we’ll dust ourselves off, pave a path forward, and pass the infrastructure bill and a meaningful and transformational Build Back Better Act. Keep the faith," he tweeted Friday after talks stalled.
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., lashed out Friday against a "far-left faction" of the House of Representatives, accusing the group of undermining the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and forcing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to admit more time was needed to pass the proposal.
He also claimed the progressive Democrats were placing President Biden's entire agenda along with "civility and bipartisan governing at risk."
"I’ve been working around-the-clock to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, legislation we helped craft back in April with my Senate colleagues," Gottheimer said in a statement Friday. "But a small far-left faction of the House of Representatives undermined that agreement and blocked a critical vote on the President’s historic bipartisan infrastructure bill."
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi drew up the white flag Friday evening, admitting that "more time is needed" to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that is one of the pillars of President Biden's agenda, after previously vowing to pass the measure this week.
While Pelosi had promised moderate House Democrats the infrastructure bill would be on the floor, progressives threatened to sink it unless it was coupled with a $3.5 trillion spending measure, known as the Build Back Better Act, that includes a variety of social welfare programs.
Republicans are united against the larger bill, and Senate Democratic moderates Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona refused to support $3.5 trillion in new spending, meaning the bill could not pass the Senate.
So it was no use for Pelosi to pass it in the House. And she was forced to cave on the infrastructure bill because progressives insisted the other measure be must be considered by the House too or they'd vote against the infrastructure bill.
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