The House of Representatives passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, 228 to 206.
The bill, which passed the Senate in August, will now go to President Biden for his signature.
It is a major legislative accomplishment for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Biden administration.
Multiple sources tell CNN that progressives and moderate Democrats are getting closer to a deal to have a vote tonight on infrastructure in exchange for more concrete commitments from moderates on the Build Back Better bill, which would be voted on at a later time.
Not everyone in the progressive caucus is on board but they are moving closer to an agreement.
A GOP House member tell The Hill that between 10 and 15 House Republicans are expected to vote for the infrastructure bill.
“The whole day was a clusterfuck, right? But beyond that, you know… I thought everyone was working in a very congenial way. I mean, rank-and-file members figured out how to get shit done.”
— Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), quoted by The Hill, after a fruitful closed-door meeting between Democratic progressives and moderates.
“Did I hear a laugh over there? Did I hear a laugh from those who added $2 trillion in tax cuts for the richest people in America?”
— Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Republicans, in response to snickers over her suggestion the budget reconciliation bill will cut the debt.
Punchbowl News: “This is a huge roll of the dice by Pelosi if she actually goes ahead with this vote. There’s a chance she may lose. She’s been forced to stand down on an infrastructure vote twice already due to progressive opposition. This time, she’s counting on President Joe Biden’s direct intervention to help bring progressives around.”
“But Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, reportedly told Biden that she would continue to oppose the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless it’s paired up with a vote on BBB… This is a position progressives have taken for months.”
“We have been told that there are more than a dozen progressives ready to vote against the infrastructure bill… There are more, but these seem to be the firmest no’s, as far as we can tell.”
The Hill: Pelosi dares liberals to sink Infrastructure bill.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that she has a “Speaker’s secret whip count” and that she believes a “large number” of progressives will fold and ultimately vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill tonight.
Said Pelosi: “I have a pretty good feel.”
John Avlon shows how Donald Trump was preparing for the Big Lie for more than a year before the 2020 election.
“The sex-crime case against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was thrown into doubt on Friday after the Albany County district attorney wrote an extraordinary letter to the court in which he characterized a criminal complaint as ‘potentially defective’ because it did not include a sworn statement by the victim that would allow a prosecution to proceed,” the New York Times reports.
Just minutes after Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill later tonight, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) rejected the plan on behalf of House progressives, Politico reports.
Said Jayapal: “If our six colleagues still want to wait for a CBO score, we would agree to give them that time — after which point we can vote on both bills together.”
“The 17-year-old son of Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) tried to cast a ballot in Tuesday’s gubernatorial election twice despite being too young to vote,” the Washington Post reports.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi postponed plans to push a massive budget reconciliation bill through House, but will hold a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure package, the AP reports.
“Attorneys general in 11 states are suing the Biden administration to try to stop new rules that require employers with more than 100 workers to ensure their employees are vaccinated against Covid-19 or get a weekly test,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Punchbowl News: “A BBB vote may not be possible today. One option under active consideration is to schedule a vote on the procedural rule resolution, which sets the guidelines for the BBB debate. And then immediately vote on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. This proposal is being pushed by the Congressional Black Caucus but has not been officially cleared by progressives and the leadership.”
“This move would allow Democrats to claim progress and give President Joe Biden a win. The twin votes would still be tough for various factions of moderates and progressives.”
“The issue with the BBB is wrapped up in the party’s uncertain political fate heading 2022. Moderates — some of whom may face tough reelection campaigns — are watching the outlook for Democrats get worse by the month. And they clearly aren’t eager to put themselves in political jeopardy for Pelosi, who may leave Congress after this term, or Biden.”
Jonathan Last: “I keep banging on about how anti-democratic redistricting has become, where institutional leverage is used to magnify small majorities (or even small minorities) into distortions so that political power is not meaningfully related to electoral support.”
“Both parties do this. But not in equal measure. And this week, Republicans at the state-level started showing just how far they were willing to go to exert their institutional leverage…”
“Moving towards winner-take-nearly-all defeats the purpose of the House of Representatives. It creates a disconnect between electoral and political power. And it encourages extremism by making party primaries more important than general elections.”
“President Biden held separate meetings with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Fed governor Lael Brainard at the White House on Thursday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The people said Mr. Biden hasn’t yet made a final decision on whom he will tap to lead the central bank, but he is expected to decide soon.”
“House Democratic leaders were struggling Friday morning to muster the final few votes needed to pass their sweeping $2 trillion budget reconciliation package over cost concerns from moderates,” Roll Call reports.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi huddled in her Capitol Hill office early Friday with a group of centrists who’ve said they need to see a formal Congressional Budget Office estimate of the measure’s deficit impact and total price tag. Leadership can only afford to lose three votes among Democrats with all Republicans expected to vote ‘no’ on the huge bill, and early indications were that they hadn’t yet corralled enough support.”
Asked whether he believed there would be a vote tonight, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters: “I don’t know.”
“The Justice Department searched two locations associated with the conservative group Project Veritas as part of an investigation into how a diary stolen from President Biden’s daughter, Ashley, came to be publicly disclosed a week and a half before the 2020 presidential election,” the New York Times reports.
“Federal agents in New York conducted the court-ordered searches on Thursday — one in New York City and one in suburban Westchester County — at places linked to people who had worked with the group and its leader, James O’Keefe.”
“The investigation is being handled by FBI agents and federal prosecutors in Manhattan who work on public corruption matters.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
