After a long day of their divisions and dysfunctions exposed, the progressive and moderate Democrats in the House of Representatives needed the help of Republicans to enable Joe Biden to secure a victory in the forceps and to claim an achievement that had escaped its last two predecessors.
By 228 votes to 206, the House passed a $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, a massive investment to refurbish roads, bridges, airports and other structures in the United States. The Senate had already approved this initiative last August by 69 votes to 30.
Thirteen Republican representatives voted for the bill. Six Democrats opposed it. Democrats couldn’t afford more than three defections without enlisting help from Republicans to secure passage of Joe Biden’s most important presidential bill since his $ 1.9 trillion economic stimulus package passed in March latest.
After postponing his departure from the White House for a weekend in Delaware, Joe Biden received the 2,000-page text, which must be ratified by his signature.
The victory came at the end of a painful week for Joe Biden and his party, whose electoral defeats were attributed in part to their failure to pass their reforms. It was obtained after a day in which moderate and progressive Democrats almost sabotaged those same reforms.
Compromise
In the end, both parties agreed to a compromise. The progressive group, with a few members, agreed to vote for the infrastructure investment plan in exchange for a pledge from the moderates to vote in mid-November on Joe Biden’s most ambitious reform.
It is a ten-year, 1750 billion dollar social and climate program that was to be voted on before the one on infrastructure.
“I ask each member of the House to vote yes on these two bills,” said Joe Biden during a morning speech at the White House during which he was able to rejoice in two good news: l The US economy added 531,000 jobs in October, and Pfizer unveiled the initial successes of a promising drug to treat COVID-19.
For much of the day that call seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
Five moderate Democrats first announced that they were not yet ready to support the social and climate agenda. They said they wanted to wait for an independent estimate of the cost of the program. Prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, this estimate will not be available until mid-November.
Negotiations
Faced with such a demand, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants decided to put aside the social and environmental program and instead hold a vote on the second bill on the menu.
PHOTO JOSE LUIS MAGANA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives
However, the Progressive Democrats had already let it be known that they were opposed to a vote on this bill before the adoption of their social and environmental priorities.
“If our five colleagues still want to wait for the estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, we would agree to give them that time – after which we can vote on both bills at the same time,” said the representative. Washington State Democrat Pramila Jayapal, Chair of the House Progressive Group, to reporters.
Like the rest of that group, she feared moderate Democrats in the House and Senate would lose interest in the social and environmental agenda after the House passed the infrastructure bill.
In the middle of the afternoon, Nancy Pelosi refused to admit that her plan was in danger of failing.
“We are not a party that marches in quick succession. It’s an additional challenge, but I see each challenge as an opportunity, ”she said at a press conference.
Negotiations continued until mid-evening. At around 10 p.m., the five moderates released a statement pledging to vote for the president’s social and climate agenda if the Congressional Budget Office confirms it will not widen the deficit.
This program plans in particular to increase the taxes of millionaires. If passed by the House, it will then be considered by the Senate, where Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema might want to make changes.