Posted on 11/05/2021 2:40:38 PM PDT by MNJohnnie
Democrats have been forced to postpone a vote on President Joe Biden’s ambitious agenda, consisting of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $1.75 trillion budget bill.
The decision to postpone the vote, coming after negotiations with moderates fell through, is another loss for the party. Their legislative agenda is now months off schedule, as leadership still cannot rally enough votes behind either bill to advance them individually or together.
Divisions in the party have now plagued leadership for months, causing Democrats across the ideological spectrum to grow increasingly frustrated. In the days leading up to the scheduled vote on Friday, it was clear that these divisions persisted.
In a Tuesday letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) moderates said that they had several conditions that must be met before they would support the budget bill. Five moderates—Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), and Ed Case (D-Hawaii)—signed the letter expressing these demands.
“We cannot lend our support to advancing the [Build Back Better] Act until we have had a chance to review these scores which provide the true cost of the legislation,” the moderates wrote. Specifically, they demanded 72 hours to review the text of the bill, confirmation from the Senate that the upper chamber will not make changes to the bill, and “the proper CBO/JCT scoring information.”
The text of the bill, around 2,000 pages long, was released publicly only hours before the vote was set to begin, giving lawmakers practically no time to read and digest the bill.
Confirmation from the Senate that they will not change the bill was also a high threshold to meet by Friday, as swing voters like Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) have not committed to voting for the bill at all, while progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have demanded that the bill be “strengthened.”
In these conditions, a commitment from the Senate not to change the bill was not a guarantee that Democratic leadership could provide to the moderates.
Most importantly, the moderates insisted, Democrats should not consider the bill until the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) releases scores on the bill, analyzing its true cost to American taxpayers.
Still, Pelosi, who has pulled off last-minute negotiations with moderates in the past, insisted on the Friday vote.
Shortly after the session of the House began Friday morning, Republicans called for a vote to have Congress adjourn for the day in a motion put forward by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) in a last-ditch effort to avoid the vote.
In a break from the norm in the House, the motion lingered on the floor for hours. According to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the vote was dragged out so long because Democrats were trying to work out an eleventh-hour deal with moderates.
Speaking at a press conference while the motion to adjourn lingered on the House floor, McCarthy chuckled about the situation.
“Can you believe the vote is still open?” McCarthy asked as he took the podium. “You know, we made history today,” he continued. “This is the longest vote held open in the history of Congress.”
McCarthy judged that the vote had not been concluded because Democrats “don’t have the votes [for Biden’s agenda] today.”
As the motion to adjourn remained in limbo on the House floor, Pelosi and Biden spent hours with the moderates in frantic closed-door negotiations, as the bill could not pass without their support.
In the House, Democrats hold a thin majority. Pelosi can only spare three votes, meaning that these five moderates were well armed to tank the bills.
The vote will now be delayed again, and it is unclear when the bill will return to the House floor.
Postpone? How about Cancel?
is it possible the virginia sweep shook these idiots up?
va & nj made the mods very very noivous
The longer it drags on the better.
Every event like last Tuesday weakens their case. If you have a D congressperson and have a chance to attend a town hall meeting while they’re in their districts, light ‘em up!
Likely.
“This is the longest vote held open in the history of Congress.” ....Mc Cartney
I prayed this would happen. Thank you Lord.
I pray it never passes.
The Red Wave is coming .... the VA election left them with the equivalent of the ocean pulling back from the shore, leaving previously underwater sea floor exposed. Those DemonRats who want to save their seats are going to start running for higher ground, if they haven’t started already.
Pelosi has become a TDS-riddled demented old bat and this BBB stuff is supposed to be her “legacy” so she can retire. The DemonRats have a choice .... the Pelosi ‘legacy’, which does them personally no good, or saving their seats in Districts that have changed since they were first elected & with a Red Wave inexorably on the way. Three .. she can only afford to lose 3 .... I’m going to be super pissed if they all vote in ‘lockstep’ yet again.
Six more months to get a CBO score, and we’ll be right at the midterms’ door.
This bill is more than pork. This is month-old road kill pig pulled out of a wet ditch.
Send it over to Obama he’ll sign it passed or not ,LOL
Supposedly the Rats' preferred candidate to run against DeSantis for Gov.
Remember about 30-35 of these Dems sit in Red or Purple districts that voted for Trump. They got elected in 2018 by lying about “not going to DC to be Nancy Pelosi’s rubber stamp”
The Dem moderates must be laying away nights after Tuesday’s results
“The text of the bill, around 2,000 pages long, was released publicly only hours before the vote was set to begin”
Senators and members of the House should hire people who can do this and let them look for ugly little surprises that are always in these 2000-page bills that are dropped on them hours before they’re expected to vote. The cost of hiring speed readers pales compared to vast sums that tucked in on page 1757.
Yep.
Many of these Reps have election races coming up.
“This is the longest vote held open in the history of Congress.” ....Mc Cartney
**************
It could turn out to be the most economically destructive one in history.
Is this the most recent news? I am getting whiplash.
Her three martini lunches are showing….
https://twitter.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/1456710200249946112?s=20
Yes, they failed to get a vote today
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