House delays vote on trillion-dollar infrastructure plan


With Democratic factions unable to reach an agreement on a broader spending package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) late Thursday delayed the vote on a more than $1 trillion infrastructure plan, pushing it to Friday.
The bipartisan bill calls for billions of dollars to upgrade the country's roads, bridges, ports, and broadband access. Progressive House Democrats said they would block the bill until moderates agreed to support some iteration of the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act, which expands the child tax credit, funds elder care and paid leave programs, and fights climate change.
For most of Thursday, Pelosi and several of President Biden's top aides met with progressives, hoping to get them on board, but Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, stood firm, telling reporters her members won't vote for the infrastructure bill until Senate Democrats commit to the reconciliation bill. Two moderate Democratic senators — Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) — are unwilling to move forward on the Build Back Better package, citing cost and other, often unspecified objetions.
Subscribe to 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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Is this the end of the late-night chat show?
Talking Point Totems of US media landscape 'seem like relics of a bygone era' as ad revenues plummet and viewers switch to YouTube, TikTok and podcasts
-
Keep the fun going with these 7 subscription gift boxes
The Week Recommends Bring the party to their mailbox
-
Babies born using 3 people's DNA are without hereditary disease
Under the radar The method could eliminate mutations for future generations
-
Trump administration releases MLK files
Speed Read Newly released documents on the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not hold any new revelations, King historians said
-
Japan's prime minister feels pressure after election losses
Speed Read Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to remain in office
-
Gavin Newsom mulls California redistricting to counter Texas gerrymandering
TALKING POINTS A controversial plan has become a major flashpoint among Democrats struggling for traction in the Trump era
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports