Pelosi: 'Self-evident' Democrats' reconciliation bill will be smaller than $3.5 trillion

published 26 September 2021

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that it "seems self-evident" Democrats' reconciliation bill will ultimately be smaller than its current $3.5 trillion price tag as she gears up to push it through the lower chamber alongside the Senate's bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Still, she doesn't think that changes the importance of the proposal, adding that even those who want to reduce the scale somewhat, like centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), still support President Biden's "vision." Either way, the package is "transformative," Pelosi said.

But it appears that the continuing debate over the reconciliation bill means neither it nor the infrastructure bill will get a vote in the House on Monday as Pelosi originally planned. Progressive Democrats have maintained they'll oppose the infrastructure package if the reconciliation poll isn't ready, and Pelosi, who's operating with a slim majority, said she'll "never bring a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes." The speaker said there's still a chance things could be settled as early as Monday, but she sounded more willing to push it back if necessary than she previously has.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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