They’re going for it. It may be fourth and long, but the Democrats are going for it. Maybe it’s guilt that they couldn’t get it done which may have helped Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. Or maybe it’s that they know because of the 2021 elections, in which Democrats performed miserably, they need to get a legislative win for the party, and Joe Biden, ahead of the 2022 midterms. Maybe this was the kick in the ass the Democrats needed because if there is a red wave, and it’s looking more like a tsunami at this point—then none of these far-left action items are going to see the light of day for a long time. Today, they will try and make serious headway in getting the Biden agenda off the ground (via NY Post):
House Democratic leadership teed up an early Friday vote on a sweeping social spending bill aimed at tackling a number of the Biden administration’s priorities and the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had told members that she wanted to see a vote on both bills on Thursday, after weeks of struggling to rally the entire caucus around both measures.
But lawmakers struggled to iron out a handful of sticking points ranging from language on immigration reform to a provision related to state and local tax deductions (SALT).
The speaker then announced on Thursday evening that the House Rules Committee would convene, with the House scheduled to gavel back into session at 8 a.m. on Friday to complete the chamber’s work on both bills.
Pelosi and her whip team worked furiously to get support from hesitant moderates, who expressed reservations over the lack of scoring from the Congressional Budget Office, climate language and immigration. They’re also contending with the probability the measure will be heavily amended in the upper chamber due to centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) voiced opposition to a number of the provisions included in the House bill.
NEW: House Rules Committee is to meet "shortly", Pelosi announces.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) November 5, 2021
They will put together the manager's amendment for BBB which is almost always the final step before a floor vote.
BREAKING: House planning for votes tomorrow on Build Back Better and infrastructure, per senior Dem aide. "Leadership feeling confident," about finishing tomorrow.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) November 5, 2021
Yeah, it’s to save their bacon ahead of Election Day 2022. Yet, poison pills, like paid family leave, were added back into the bill. The irony is that Joe Biden had his legislative win weeks ago. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill (BIF) had plenty of GOP support and that of all the moderate House Democrats. There’s the win. The issue has been Nancy Pelosi and the far-left demanding the $3.5 trillion package, which the Left hilariously said was paid for, pass first. They’ll need to pass it through reconciliation. Democrats have a split chamber in the Senate. they can’t lose a single vote and they only have a four-seat majority in the House. Moderates were not happy at this tweak in the docket. Oh, and Democrats are down two votes in the Senate. You all know about Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) just nuking the Hill with their opposition to this package.
I don’t see how this gets done right now. I could be wrong, but I didn’t get the feeling that Sinema or Manchin are ready to sign off on this at all.
We'll keep you posted