House Democratic leaders abandoned a third attempt on Thursday to clear a Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill, as progressives held firmly opposed without deeper assurances that a larger package of social benefits will in fact pass. The third punt in a month came after President Joe Biden made a Thursday morning visit to the Capitol to implore House Democrats to help him advance his agenda as a matter of demonstrating that American democracy can still function. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and her leadership team wanted to clear the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Thursday to give Biden a big legislative victory as he left for Europe for the G20 and a global climate change summit. Leadership also hoped to boost Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, where voters go to the polls on Tuesday. The bipartisan infrastructure bill would also have renewed federal highway programs that are currently set to expire on October 31st and faced with the impasse, Democratic leaders instead hastily scheduled a vote Thursday night on a short-term extension through December 3rd, which lawmakers passed handily on a bipartisan basis by a vote of 358 to 59, a sign that passage of both the infrastructure bill and the domestic policy plan may or may not be far-off.
Earlier in the day, House Democrats released 1,684 pages of what they said was the legislative text of the Build Back Better Act after President Biden earlier in the day unveiled his outline for a $1.85 trillion social safety net and climate bill, imploring Democrats to put aside their differences and embrace a plan to provide universal prekindergarten, generous support for child care costs and the largest investment ever to combat climate change. But his appeal for Democrats to unite and hand him a long-delayed victory on his domestic agenda fell flat, as liberals demanded assurances that the package would survive before they would agree to an immediate vote on a separate $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The expectation on Capitol Hill is that both bills will pass eventually — perhaps sometime next week. And voices across the Democratic spectrum emphasize that such an outcome would be a significant victory for President Biden and Speaker Pelosi.
For today, both the House and Senate are not in session. The Senate will reconvene on Monday, November 1st at 3:00 P.M. and will resume consideration Jonathan Davidson to be Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury for Legislative Affairs. The House will also reconvene for votes on Monday at 6:30 P.M.
Adam S. Olsen, Washington, D.C.
