Split On The Left
Not so fast on that tandem of infrastructure bills pending in Washington.
The chamber that has a clear-but-slim Democrat majority, the House, is having a hard time herding its cats.
There was a promise made to bring the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill…which D.C. folks are calling the BIF, or “biff”…to the floor for a vote next week. That’s the $1.5 trillion or so for roads and bridges. It passed the Senate already.
But progressives say they won’t go along with that unless there is also the “human infrastructure” bill, another $3.5 trillion. And that’s where the split occurs, because moderate Democrats in both the House and Senate say that’s too much money and they won’t go along with that.
The head of the progressive caucus in the House says they can count some four dozen members who say all or nothing, willing to tank roads and bridges if they don’t get all they want. And remember, the Democrats can only lose four–not four dozen–members to get the majority they need.
The president is trying to flex some influence by meeting with House Democrats today, but his influence has never been great within the progressive wing of the party, he’s not well known to these new House members, and Politico says the progressives are not happy about how the administration is handling migrants at the border (for reasons different from why you might not be happy).
Now, we see just how good Speaker Pelosi is at keeping her side together.
