The Archive

BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN
WITH MAX COHEN AND CHRISTIAN HALL

It’s late. Today was torturous. But here we are: President Joe Biden notched a big victory this evening when the House passed the $1 trillion-plus bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The vote was 228-206 with 13 Republicans crossing the aisle to vote with Democrats. Six Democrats voted no: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) — all members of The Squad.

The bipartisan measure — which earlier passed the Senate by a 69-30 after months of negotiations — will fund an historic investment in the nation’s roads, bridges, airports, railroads and other aging infrastructure. It also includes tens of billions of dollars to expand broadband coverage, an issue that became even more important during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But most of all, this is the kind of legislative deal that Biden promised during his campaign — an old-fashioned public works bill. It’s also a win that Biden needed badly. The president spent the day calling Democrats, cajoling them to support the compromise between moderate and progressive factions inside the House Democratic Caucus.

A signing ceremony is expected next week. 

And, as we sit in the Capitol at midnight, House Democrats are on the brink of approving a procedural rule for the $1.85 trillion Build Back Better Act. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House had hoped the House would approve the BBB earlier today, but Democratic moderates forced the leadership to postpone the final vote for several weeks so the caucus could review the full budgetary analysis of the legislation. 

Today’s confusing scramble for votes and, indeed, the last few months, put on public display the fractious nature of the Democratic Caucus, as well as just how difficult it is to pass ambitious legislation with slim majorities. 

Over the last 16 hours, Democratic leaders and the White House had to put down uprisings among moderates and progressives.

But it was moderates’ demand for a full Congressional Budget Office report that triggered the mess that paralyzed the House for most of Friday. 

Once again, Biden owes a massive debt of gratitude to House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and the Congressional Black Caucus — the same forces that helped carry him to the presidency. The veteran South Carolina Democrat intervened at a decisive moment and helped convince warring moderates and progressives to come to the table and negotiate.

And here’s what cinched it for Biden: the White House, Pelosi, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) agreed that moderates would vote for the BBB if the CBO score mirrors the administration’s budgetary analysis.

Here’s the moderates’ statement:

“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 – consistent with the toplines for revenues and investments in the “White House Preliminary Budgetary Estimate of the Build Back Better Act” document presented to the Democratic Caucus on November 4, 2021 by the White House. Further, in the event the fiscal information received from the Congressional Budget Office is inconsistent with the “White House Preliminary Budgetary Estimate of the Build Back Better Act” document, we remain committed to working to resolve any discrepancies in order to pass the Build Back Better legislation.”

And here’s the progressives’ response:

“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. Our colleagues have committed to voting for the transformative Build Back Better Act, as currently written, no later than the week of November 15. 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.

These statements were blessed by the leadership and the White House. Of course, there’s lots of wiggle room here. The CBO score isn’t expected until Thanksgiving week, for example. When it comes out, it still may not meet moderates’ muster. Even if it passes the House, it has to pass the Senate, where it will face huge hurdles.

Put plainly, the BBB is a long way from getting to the president’s desk..

How today’s deal happened: Pelosi spent hours in the Gold Room off the House floor, dialing a list of lawmakers, looking to broker the deal. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer frequently met with Pelosi. Clyburn had the direct line to the president; he spoke to Biden on Friday evening. Lawmakers in and around leadership cycled in and out of the Gold Room to chat with Pelosi. Reps. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) were all in with Pelosi as the leadership tried to wrap this agreement up. This group also shuttled over to the Longworth House Office Building to meet with progressives, helping cinch the deal.