‘Hell NO’: Progressive Democrats Voice Opposition to Infrastructure Deal Without Commitment on Spending Bill
A number of House Democrats are ready to vote against the bipartisan infrastructure package if they do not get certain commitments on the separate spending bill.
Many progressives have said they want to tackle the BIF and the Build Back Better legislation with Biden administration agenda items in tandem, but negotiations have gone on for weeks over objections to the BBB bill from Senators Joe Manchin (D- WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D- AZ).
President Joe Biden attended the House Democratic caucus meeting Thursday morning and hours later announced a “historic economic framework” for the spending bill.
There’s still some question of whether there are enough votes for it, but Congressional Progressives Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal said there are too many no votes on the BIF right now.
Japayal said Thursday that they want the finalized text of the legislation released first.
Rep. Jayapal tells reporters she doesn’t have the votes. “There are too many members for the BIF to pass, too many no votes for the BIF to pass today,” she says. “We do need to have the legislative text, and we will vote both bills through together.”
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) October 28, 2021
Jayapal reiterated they want both bills passed in tandem.
Progressives won’t leave working families behind.
We’ve been clear since the spring: the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act pass together — and that hasn’t changed. pic.twitter.com/IGMkR6s8Qa
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) October 28, 2021
Some House progressives have been rather vocal about their BIF opposition right now. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib rather bluntly said after the progressives’ meeting, “Hell no on BIF!”
“Put hell no on BIF” Rep. Rashida Tlaib said about how she wanted her position marked down after leaving the progressive caucus meeting.
— Annie Grayer (@AnnieGrayerCNN) October 28, 2021
Other progressives like Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman similarly gave an emphatic no to reporters earlier, per Politico.
UPDATE: The text of the BBB legislation has now been released.
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