Rep. Huffman: Progressives have probably hardened when it comes to reconciliation vote
How one progressive sees the reconciliation fight: As Democratic leaders hustled to pass the infrastructure bill last week, some House progressives indicated they’d accept some sort of agreement that Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and the Senate's other 48 Democrats would support a reconciliation bill in lieu of an actual vote on it.
But that's old news, according to Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), a Congressional Progressive Caucus member and one of the lawmakers who successfully pushed last week to delay an infrastructure vote and ensure infrastructure and reconciliation remain linked.
The events of the past few days “probably harden the resolve of progressives to have an actual Senate vote before they cast their votes on the Senate bill,” Huffman said in an interview on Sunday. “I think we’re going to need the verification side of this trust-but-verify equation.”
There isn't a lot of trust between moderates and progressives, our colleague Marianna Sotomayor reports.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), the leader of a group of relatively moderate Democrats who had pressed for a vote on the infrastructure by Sept. 27, riled progressives on Friday night when he lashed out in a statement at a “small faction on the far left” that has employed “Freedom Caucus tactics” that threaten to “destroy the president’s agenda.”
"This was not the Freedom Caucus,” Huffman said. “This was not a small faction. I mean, every single allegation there is just wrong.”
Despite the clashes, Democrats are now making a renewed push to enact President Biden's agenda. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Saturday that Democrats must past the infrastructure bill “well before” surface transportation funding expires Oct. 31. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also told reporters on Sunday that Democrats would try to get both bills passed in the next month — even as lawmakers must also find a way to raise the debt ceiling in the coming weeks to avoid a ruinous default.
With a tight margin in the House, Democrats can't afford to lose almost any votes.
“I think we all want Josh to get back on the team and be part of getting both of these bills over the finish line,” Huffman said.
Source: Washington Post
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