Democrats Prepare To Vote On Sweeping Biden Infrastructure Bill

Washington, Nov 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Nov, 2021 ) :Democrats scrambled Friday to rescue President Joe Biden's faltering domestic agenda, setting a vote in Congress on a giant infrastructure package that is one of the pillars of his $3 trillion Dollar economic vision alongside a social welfare expansion that rebel moderates blocked earlier in the day.

Despite hours of cajoling lawmakers, party leaders had risked seeing Biden's two-pronged legislative strategy collapse as they failed to unite the party's feuding progressive and moderate factions.

But a major breakthrough suddenly looked possible as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced a vote on the Senate-passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on the House floor some time late evening.

The passage of the infrastructure spending would represent a welcome respite for Biden, amid plunging personal approval ratings and a humiliating upset defeat for his Democratic Party in the Virginia gubernatorial election.

Party leadership in the House of Representatives began the day aiming to rubber-stamp that legislation, the biggest upgrade of roads, bridges and waterways in decades, after sending an even bigger social welfare deal, worth up to $1.85 trillion, to the upper chamber.

But six moderate Democrats refused to commit to the "Build Back Better" benefits package, arguing that they first needed to see a full accounting of its economic impacts, which won't be available for at least a week.

With a majority of just three votes in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to postpone the vote on the Build Back Better package, which includes major investments in health, education, tackling climate change and expanding social welfare programs.

- Suspicion - Progressives initially blocked the infrastructure vote amid suspicion that Senate centrists would reject the Build Back Better bill as soon as they got their transport upgrades signed into law.

But Pelosi refused to back down, insisting on the vote before the end of the day and offering an olive branch to the liberals -- a procedural vote on the "rule" to at least get debate started on Build Back Better.

"I am urging all members to vote for both the rule for consideration of the Build Back Better Act and final passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill tonight," Biden said in a late evening statement.

"I am confident that during the week of November 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act.

" The development will be a salve to Democratic leaders who have spent two days in meetings painstakingly trying to bring aboard holdouts over multiple sticking points in Build Back Better, from prescription drug pricing to immigration provisions.

Whether or not the infrastructure package passes into law will depend on some tricky mathematics: some 10 to 20 progressives, still smarting over the moderate rebellion, are expected to vote no -- while Democrats may be able to add a dozen or so Republicans to their three-seat majority.

Biden, who spent much of Thursday evening and Friday on the phone corralling lawmakers, called publicly for their support "right now" in an earlier televised address from the White House.

"Let's show the world that America's democracy can deliver and propel our country forward," he said.

- Immediate victory - Pelosi has attempted twice in recent weeks to advance the twin mega-bills, but has been forced to postpone votes on infrastructure as progressives, unhappy about the lack of commitment to their priorities, refused to pledge their support.

Biden is banking on a bounce from either bill, 10 months after he swept to the White House promising the pandemic-devastated nation he would "build back better" -- only to see his popularity plunge.

The infrastructure package reaching his desk before the weekend would mark an unambiguous, resounding and immediate victory for the 78-year-old former senator, who touts his ability to reach across the aisle.

By funding work on roads, bridges and ports and high-speed internet, the White House says it would create millions of high-paying jobs.

Build Back Better, on the other hand, does not have the Senate's blessing and is likely to be downsized significantly and put through further arduous votes in the upper chamber, even if it advances from the House.

"It will not be enacted as is. Everybody needs to sit with that and get comfortable with it," Montana's Democratic senator Jon Tester told Politico.

The votes will cap months of tense negotiations on Capitol Hill since the Senate approved the infrastructure package in August, giving it rare bipartisan support in Washington's polarized political atmosphere.

Most House Republicans are expected to withhold their support, however, after former president Donald Trump threatened reprisals for helping to hand Biden a political win.