House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said the House will not open debate on a bipartisan infrastructure deal unless the Senate passes a partisan plan through budget reconciliation, in comments on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
The the details of the bipartisan infrastructure plan, which is set to cost about $1.2 trillion, are still being negotiated by a group of Senate Democrats and Republicans. Democrats also want to pass a $3.5 trillion proposal via budget reconciliation rules, which allow the Senate to pass certain bills via a simple majority.
Pressed on not holding a vote on infrastructure until the Senate passes a much larger package through reconciliation, @SpeakerPelosi tells @GStephanopoulos: "I won't put it on the floor until we have the rest of the initiative." https://t.co/gSBRSyV25B pic.twitter.com/F6OVysZdSn
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 25, 2021
“I hope that it will pass. I won’t put it on the floor unless we have the rest of the initiative,” Pelosi said regarding the bipartisan bill.
Host George Stephanopoulos countered that Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) threatened last week to have Republican congressmen leave the capital in order to deny Democrats the ability to pass a partisan bill.
“You talk to Lindsey Graham about what he says,” Pelosi said. “I’m telling you what’s going to happen in the House of Representatives, and that is that we’re rooting for the infrastructure bill to pass, but we all know more needs to be done.”
Pelosi previously stated in June that the House would only consider both bills if they are first passed by the Senate.
On the same program, Senator Rob Portman (R., Ohio) said the bipartisan bill was “about 90 percent” complete.
“We have one issue outstanding and we’re not getting much response from the Democrats on it — it’s about mass transit,” Portman said.
Source: National Review
