House delays vote to improve Biden's economic agenda as centrist Democrats derail Pelosi's plans

August 25, 2021: -The House scrapped a planned Monday vote to advance two vital economic proposals as the centrist Democrats and party leaders failed to break a stalemate over the way to proceed with Biden’s sprawling economic agenda.

On Tuesday, the chamber will reconvene as Democrats try to strike a deal to move ahead with legislation they see as an economic boon and a lifeline for households. The domestic policy goals of Biden, and his party’s push to retain control of Congress in the coming year’s midterms, could hinge on if Democrats find a compromise.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pushed to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and her party’s separate $3.5 trillion spending plan at the same time. The process could take some months, as the House requires the Senate to pass a budget resolution before lawmakers tell about the last proposal.

Nine members of Pelosi’s caucus are enough to cost her a majority vote if they defect that urged the California Democrat to approve the Senate-passed infrastructure legislation by this week and send it to Biden. Pelosi paired the bills to ensure the centrists are wary of a $3.5 trillion price tag and progressives who consider the infrastructure plan bad back both measures.

On Monday, the nine lawmakers opposed Pelosi’s plan to advance the infrastructure bill, the budget plan, and separate voting rights legislation. She approved the budget resolution by Tuesday, then hold a final vote on the infrastructure bill only after Democrats wrote their final spending plan and the Senate approved it.

As they lacked the votes to move ahead, Pelosi and her top deputies engaged for hours Monday night with the holdouts, including Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. Democratic leaders reportedly offered a commitment to vote on the infrastructure bill by October 1.

Asked as she left the Capitol early Tuesday if lawmakers would set a date for an infrastructure vote, Pelosi responded, “We will see tomorrow, won’t we now?”

In a Washington Post column published Sunday, the nine Democrats said they “are firmly opposed to holding the president’s infrastructure legislation hostage to reconciliation, risking its passage and the bipartisan support behind it.”

Democratic leaders will use budget reconciliation to pass their plan to expand the social safety net and curb climate change. The process would allow the party to approve it without a vote from Republicans.

The GOP has opposed the trillions in spending and the tax hikes on corporations and the wealthy contained in the plan.

Though they do not need Republican support, Democrats have a tiny margin for error. They will need to win over all 50 members of their Senate caucus and all but three Democrats in the House.