House aims to vote on Build Back Better, infrastructure bills

Update: The House passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill late Friday night. Read more here.

President Joe Biden’s economic plans ran into more resistance in the House on Friday as Democrats scrambled to muster enough support to pass the core of the party’s agenda.

After a day of wrangling between the progressive and centrist planks of the party, a potential breakthrough emerged that could allow the party to forge ahead with late-night votes. But the plans’ fates were still up in the air as the clock ticked toward Saturday and lawmakers began voting on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill just before 11 p.m. ET. The measure received enough votes, including Republicans, to pass just before 11:20 p.m. ET.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi can only afford three Democratic defections as she tries to next pass a $1.75 trillion social safety net and climate plan.

Centrist Democrats demanded to see a Congressional Budget Office estimate of how the safety-net plan would affect federal deficits before they voted for it. When Democratic leaders attempted to pass only the infrastructure bill and hold a procedural vote on the social spending bill, a group of progressives opposed the maneuver.

The House was in recess late Friday as Democratic leaders tried to resolve the stalemate and move forward with bills they view as a lifeline for American households and the key to their electoral fortunes in next year’s midterm elections. After hours of talks to break the impasse — and prodding from Biden himself — a possible deal to break the stalemate emerged. Progressives could vote to pass the infrastructure plan, while centrist could support a procedural vote — or a rule — related to the larger Build Back Better spending plan.

“Tonight, members of the Progressive Caucus and our colleagues in the Democratic Caucus reached an agreement to advance both pieces of President Biden’s legislative agenda,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said in a statement. “Our colleagues have committed to voting for the transformative Build Back Better Act, as currently written, no later than the week of November 15.”

She continued: “All of our colleagues have also committed to voting tonight on the rule to move the Build Back Better Act forward to codify this promise. The President has affirmed these members gave him the same commitment.”

Centrist holdouts separately issued a statement committing to voting for the social spending package.

“We commit to voting for the Build Back Better Act, in its current form other than technical changes, as expeditiously as we receive fiscal information from the Congressional Budget Office — but in no event later than the week of November 15th,” said Democratic Reps. Ed Case of Hawaii, Josh…