Lawmakers who bucked their parties on the $1T infrastructure bill
Six progressive Democrats and 13 Republicans bucked party lines on Friday in a vote on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal, which passed the House 228-206.
Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Cori Bush (Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) voted against the Senate-approved bill.
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) was joined in voting in favor of the bill by fellow Republican Reps. Jefferson Van Drew (N.J.), John Katko (N.Y.), Don Bacon (Neb.), Don Young (Alaska), Fred Upton (Mich.), Chris Smith (N.J), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Tom Reed (N.Y.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Andrew Garbarino (N.Y.), Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.) and David McKinley (W.Va.).
Tensions ran high among Democrats ahead of the vote on Friday as the party struggled to unite on a path forward on the physical infrastructure bill and a separate $1.75 trillion social spending and climate package.
Though the Senate passed the infrastructure deal in August, House progressives had vowed not to vote for the public works bill before passing the social safety net plan, concerned about moderates scaling back popular provisions once the bipartisan deal was law.
Among the provisions included in the massive package are proposals for free preschool for kids ages 3 and 4, boosts to Pell Grant funding, health care expansions, and billions for affordable housing.
Earlier this week, Democratic leadership set its sights on passing both bills by the end of the week. But the party fell short on those goals as the week dragged on amid pushback from moderates who demanded a full Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis for the larger spending plan.
There was a back-and forth-between the Congressional Progressive Caucus and leadership hours before the infrastructure vote on Friday, with Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) at one point threatening to sink the bill without the social spending plan.
It wasn’t until after hours of negotiations that a deal was struck between the Congressional Progressive Caucus, moderate Blue Dog Democrats and Congressional Black Caucus on a vote for the bipartisan plan.
As part of the deal, the different factions agreed upon a vote for a rule that sets up a later vote on the larger social spending package, which would advance key parts of the president’s legislative agenda.
Moderates also had to agree to a written commitment that they’ll vote for the social spending plan so long as the CBO report lines up with economic estimates from the White House on the legislation.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed..