Democrats call for votes to pass $ 3.5 trillion budget plan

Officials have sought to allay moderates’ fears that Mr. Biden would sign the larger spending bill without the infrastructure bill, according to a person familiar with the calls; they also expressed support for pressure from Ms Pelosi to pass the two bills by October 1. Some officials have pointed out the benefits of a larger bill, including proposals to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Ms Pelosi and her top MPs, backed by dozens of progressive lawmakers, remain equally adamant that the vote on infrastructure will only take place after the Senate approves the budget. In a series of open letters to members over the past week, senior Democrats have presented a vote in favor of the budget plan as a chance to shape key legislation and ensure passage of party priorities.

“Ensuring a bicameral reconciliation process, with genuine input from the House ahead of the passage of bipartisan infrastructure legislation, is essential to advancing critical democratic priorities on infrastructure and more,” wrote Representative Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a scathing critic of the bipartisan agreement.

Progressive groups have also push ads targeting the nine Democrats as obstructing the Biden administration’s agenda. No Labels, a centrist political organization, called the group the “unbreakable nine” in a dramatic editing comparing them to characters like Abraham Lincoln and a fictional senator from the movie “Bulworth”, in which a suicidal politician decides to tell the truth.

While some Republicans are expected to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill, they are adamantly opposed to the budget plan, citing concerns about its size, proposed tax increases and the possibility that increased spending will worsen inflation.

“Don’t be surprised, when you draft a bill that you know no Republican will vote for, no one will,” Rep. Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma, said in a statement. hearing Monday. “Frankly, that’s why you linked the infrastructure bill to this bill, because you’re forcing your own members to submit.

Referring to the $ 1,000 billion infrastructure bill, he added, “If you put it down it would pass immediately, but you chose to use it as a weapon against your own limbs.