Progressives hit back after moderates take aim at Pelosi

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other House Democrats on Saturday responded to their moderate colleagues who took aim at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for not bringing the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package to the floor for a vote this week.   

“The Speaker didn’t break any promises,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday after Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) accused Pelosi of breaking a promise to House moderates.

“The arbitrary date 9 people insisted on was in the Aug rule vote to proceed on a $3.5T bill. That bound $3.5T w/ Sept date. Challenging $3.5 also challenged their date. That’s ok! Right > rushed. We can still Build Back Better… together!” Ocasio-Cortez added. 

The Speaker didn’t break any promises. The arbitrary date 9 people insisted on was in the Aug rule vote to proceed on a $3.5T bill. That bound $3.5T w/ Sept date. Challenging $3.5 also challenged their date.

That’s ok! Right > rushed. We can still Build Back Better… together!☺️ https://t.co/DQQCSpRVrf

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 2, 2021

Gottheimer went after Pelosi late Friday for delaying the vote on the bipartisan bill amid threats from House progressives to withhold support until the larger “human infrastructure” proposal was passed. 

The New Jersey Democrat, who led nine moderates in ensuring that Pelosi would hold a stand-alone vote for the proposal by the end of September, said Pelosi breached a “firm, public commitment” to lawmakers to vote on the deal. 

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, also said that she was “profoundly disappointed and disillusioned” that the vote was delayed.

Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) took aim at Gottheimer, tweeting “What an odd way of saying ‘I’m embarrassed by my failed attempt to force an arbitrary deadline in direct defiance of the Speaker’s originally stated plan. I will stop taking the American people hostage moving forward.’ ”

What an odd way of saying “I’m embarrassed by my failed attempt to force an arbitrary deadline in direct defiance of the Speaker’s originally stated plan. I will stop taking the American people hostage moving forward.” https://t.co/HN1s67cXGP

— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) October 1, 2021

President Biden visited House Democrats on Friday, during which he made it clear that the reconciliation bill and infrastructure bill were linked, sealing the win for progressives who wanted the two measures passed together. 

After the meeting, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) tweeted “this afternoon @POTUS stood with @SpeakerPelosi and 95% of the @HouseDemocrats and said the opposite: that his historic vision for America first requires a Build Back Better reconciliation deal. That’s the way a bipartisan infrastructure bill will win the votes to become law.”

This afternoon @POTUS stood with @SpeakerPelosi and 95% of the @HouseDemocrats and said the opposite: that his historic vision for America first requires a Build Back Better reconciliation deal. That’s the way a bipartisan infrastructure bill will win the votes to become law. https://t.co/77y2VXJsQg

— Sean Patrick Maloney (@RepSeanMaloney) October 1, 2021