Radical House Democrats won a huge victory last week by stalling the nonpartisan infrastructure bill Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed would pass the Senate by Thursday.
The speaker has been known for many years, due to her tight grip on her party and determination to score crucial votes by the tiniest of margins; however, Pelosi had a surprising setback.
Biden’s Agendas in Congress are Dead
It brought President Biden’s two most important meeting agendas to a standstill in Congress. Also, it was a major victory for progressive Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal who rallied her colleagues against the collaborative construction measure while Pelosi, as well as other Democrat politicians, pushed for it.
In a post-Friday evening, Jayapal said, “I’ve never ever been as pleased [with the progressive Democrat Caucus] as I am right now. We stood firm for working Americans last night, defying large corporations and lobbyists. Today, we continue to battle to ensure the president’s whole program is delivered to the American public.”
I've never been as proud of @USProgressives as I am in this moment.
Last night, we held strong for working families and stood up to corporate interests and lobbyists.
Today, we keep fighting to deliver the President's ENTIRE agenda for the American people.
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) October 1, 2021
As the head of one of the Senate’s largest groups (the Progressive Caucus has 96 members), Jayapal is in a situation to wield enormous authority among Democrats in Congress for a long period.
However, Pelosi, who is 81 years old, was left to spin her setback. “A vote will be held today,” Pelosi stated as she left the Capitol at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.
That may have been construed as an allusion to either the Friday calendar day or the Thursday political day, which spilled into Friday because House did not adjourn on Thursday evening.
It’s All Over – For Now
However, at the end of Friday, there was no vote and the House departed town before holding a vote, thus ending “Thursday.”
“Time was disrupted two weeks ago when the possibility of a revised budget made the road to consensus more difficult. However, the job continues,” Pelosi noted in a letter to Democrats.
Speaker Pelosi leaves the Capitol @ 12:01am Friday morning.
Asked how disappointed she is there was no vote tonight, she replied “They’ll be a vote today.” pic.twitter.com/kC1ctIuDDw
— Jason Donner (@jason_donner) October 1, 2021
“At work, there were two different dynamics: a dedication to the date reached under the initial budget contract, and the dedication not to bring BIF to the floor unless we had a general agreement on both the topline amount in the Build Back Better Act and the policies contained in it,” Pelosi said.
“I would not take BIF to the floor to fail, out of respect for our friends who support the legislation and appreciation of the importance of both. We will, and must, pass both laws as soon as possible. We have the ability and the responsibility to do so.”
The presenter was dealt a very challenging hand. In a split caucus, Pelosi had to move two big bills on a tight timeframe with absolutely no margin for error. However, the truth remains that Pelosi failed to complete the task.
Despite the setback and the shift in Democrat politics, many Capitol Hill observers do not see last week as a disaster for the government’s policies or Pelosi’s ability to manage her caucus.
