Speaker Pelosi Delays Vote on Infrastructure Bill – The New York Times
WASHINGTON Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said on Sunday night that the House would vote on a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Thursday, giving Democrats more time to reach a consensus on President Biden s sprawling domestic policy package.
The vote will come hours before government funding as well as key transportation programs addressed in the infrastructure bill is scheduled to lapse on Oct. 1, leaving lawmakers with a narrow margin for error.
Ms. Pelosi had committed last month to holding a vote on the legislation by Monday, after a group of centrist Democrats threatened to vote against a budget blueprint needed to push through the party s signature $3.5 trillion social policy and climate change bill unless they were promised a quick vote on the infrastructure measure, which the Senate passed last month.
But progressive lawmakers have vowed not to support the infrastructure bill until Congress acts on the $3.5 trillion plan to provide vast new investments in education, health, child care, paid leave and climate programs. That package has yet to be completed.
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Ms. Pelosi s announcement that the House would aim to pass the infrastructure bill later in the week reflected the difficulty of the task that Democratic leaders face as they feverishly try to knit together a compromise to move forward with Mr. Biden s agenda.
I m never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn t have the votes, Ms. Pelosi said of the infrastructure bill on This Week on ABC on Sunday.
via www.nytimes.com