The House Budget Committee on Saturday afternoon passed the $3.5 trillion spending bill, Aris Folley reported for The Hill. The vote was 20-17, with Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) voting against it alongside the committee's Republicans.
Folley pointed out the package was passed with various legislation approved by 13 House committees earlier this month. A previous article of hers cited Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), the committee's chairman:
Yarmuth told reporters on Thursday afternoon that the panel will start piecing together the chunks of legislation approved by 13 House committees earlier this month that will make up the massive package.
“We put all of them together and that's the bill,” Yarmuth explained, noting the markup process in the panel is “not the same as it isn't any other committees,” and won’t involve amendments.
Following passage out of committee, the reconciliation now heads to the House Committee on Rules and then will be brought to a vote.
Disunity and infighting among Democrats abounds over the spending package.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the budget chairman and author of the bill owns the price tag, pointing out it had started out as being $6 trillion, and even arguing that it should be more than the current $3.5 trillion. On the other hand, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has come out against such an amount.
Illustrating how much of a motivation fiscal responsibility is, or, more accurately, isn't, Rep. Yarmuth also on Thursday pointed out that he's "tried to stress from the beginning, you know, we shouldn't even be talking about a top line number."
A Saturday morning piece in POLITICO by Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine about Manchin's misgivings includes comments from his Democratic colleagues though who believe he will ultimately come around.
There's also how the bill is seen as tied to a bipartisan infrastructure package, with progressives threatening to vote against it unless the spending bill is considered first.
A "Dear Colleague" letter from the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) indicated on Friday that the House will vote next week on the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.
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