The House met briefly on Monday evening, but adjourned early Tuesday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and a group of 10 centrist Democrats failed to agree on a path forward for the centerpiece of their and President Biden's domestic agenda — the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget package worth up to $3.5 trillion.
The Senate has approved the infrastructure bill and the larger budge blueprint. The 10 Democratic holdouts, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), are demanding that the House clear the bipartisan bill before authorizing Democrats to write the larger package, but Pelosi, with Biden's approval, has lashed the bills together to keep all factions of the party invested in their success.
"We cannot squander this majority and this Democratic White House by not passing what we need to do," Pelosi told Democrats in a private caucus meeting. Other Democrats got increasingly frustrated and angry at the holdouts as the night wore on, Politico reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Pelosi and her team met with Gottheimer on Monday evening and offered to pass the bipartisan bill by Oct. 1, regardless of the status of the budget package, but "some in Gottheimer's group quickly balked at the plan, leaving Pelosi and her team to gauge their appetite for a potential floor fight," Politico reports.
Republicans are actively cheering for the floor fight, hoping Gottheimer's team pulls a John McCain and sinks Biden's agenda, but that hope is "almost surely in vain," Elana Schor writes at Politico. In 2017, Sen. McCain (R-Ariz) killed his party's "attempt to take away benefits from the American public, protections that were growing in popularity," while the moderate Democrats would be "donning a black hat by stopping legislation that's poised to expand paid leave, universal pre-K, free community college, and Medicare coverage."
The "ultimate goal" of Gottheimer and his allies "is to gain influence inside their party," and "the best way to get that influence isn't by tanking the speaker's priorities, McCain-style — especially when Gottheimer is trying to repeal the cap on state and local tax deductions in the same bill he's holding up," Schor writes. "Gottheimer can win by reaching an agreement that makes his centrists look as smart as possible while giving Democratic leaders what they want."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Democrats Monday evening they need to get a grip and "trust one another," otherwise "this is mutually assured destruction."
-
Who were the ‘weekend snipers’ of Sarajevo?Under the Radar Italian authorities launch investigation into allegations far-right gun enthusiasts paid to travel to Bosnian capital and shoot civilians ‘for fun’ during the four-year siege
-
A free speech debate is raging over sign language at the White HouseTalking Points The administration has been accused of excluding deaf Americans from press briefings
-
Glinda vs. Elphaba, Jennifer Lawrence vs. postpartum depression and wilderness vs. progress in November moviesthe week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Wicked: For Good,’ ‘Die My Love’ and ‘Train Dreams’
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP alliesSpeed Read The president pardoned Rudy Giuliani and more who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
-
Democrats split as Senate votes to end shutdownSpeed Read The proposed deal does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Democrats’ main demand
-
Obamacare: Why premiums are rocketingFeature The rise is largely due to the Dec. 31 expiration of pandemic-era ‘enhanced’ premium subsidies, which are at the heart of the government shutdown
-
USDA orders states to ‘undo’ full SNAP paymentsSpeed Read The Trump administration is telling states not to pay full November food stamp benefits
-
Senate takes first step to end record shutdownSpeed Read Eight senators in the Democratic caucus voted with Republicans to advance legislation to reopen the government
