WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Fighting among Democrats is threatening to sink President Biden’s domestic agenda.
Progressive Democrats are at odds with moderates and there is a $2 trillion gap in how much each side is willing to spend.
Democrats say their demands are clear.
“The reconciliation bill to be passed first and then we’ll happily vote for the infrastructure bill,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
Jayapal said progressives won’t support the infrastructure bill on its own “because it actually has negative effects on climate.”
The otherwise bipartisan trillion dollar package is also facing opposition from House Republicans.
“The majority of overwhelming amount of our members are going to vote no, because they don’t view it as an infrastructure bill,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
Speaker Nancy Pelosi spent the day meeting with Democrats, trying to convince them to support infrastructure now and vote later on a reconciliation bill to invest $3.5 trillion in domestic spending.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the package fulfills Biden’s promise to fight climate change.
“We want to incentivize the development of clean technologies, and the deployment of them to get to that goal of net-zero carbon emissions as a nation by 2050,” said Granholm.
Regardless of when the vote happens on the domestic spending package, it appears doomed to fail in the Senate because Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said that much money is fiscal insanity.
“The 1.5 was always, from my heart, what we could do and not jeopardize our economy,” said Manchin.
Progressive Democrats say they’re ready to negotiate.