The Unbreakable Nine “Are Holding Firm”
They truly are unbreakable.
Roll Call reports this morning that “all nine House Democrats who told Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week that they won’t vote for the budget unless the House sends the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill to President Joe Biden’s desk first are holding firm to that position.” And “a source familiar with moderates’ views said [other Democrats] have made similar demands behind the scenes,” with the total as high as 15.
The Daily Mail says that while “one source told the outlet that Pelosi is standing firm on the sequence of votes…the stand-off could also end with Pelosi promising the nine lawmakers a vote on the bipartisan deal by the end of next month.”
The Hill reports, “The moderate Democrats have noted that a wide swath of organizations support the bipartisan infrastructure bill, including the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.” The United Steelworkers are tweeting about the bill this morning.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA) and her peers “are calling for an immediate vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.” Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) said Thursday, “We have a really simple demand: Put the infrastructure bill on the floor, take a vote, send it to the president’s desk, then we’ll vote on starting the other process. … We’re not going to let this infrastructure bill sit for the next six weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks, how many months?"
A Houston Chronicle editorial calls the bill “a truly remarkable legislative achievement given the polarization in the evenly divided Senate,” and says it “presents a rare opportunity to rebuild the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.” It makes sense for the House to get it to the president’s desk as soon as possible.
Biden himself agrees. On the day the bill passed the Senate, he called on the House to send it to his desk “as soon as possible so we can continue our work of building back better.” The Unbreakable Nine are supporting Biden’s agenda, at great political risk, because they believe in the vital importance of the infrastructure plan he has championed.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson (D) writes in Roll Call, “The Senate’s overwhelming and bipartisan vote in support of a new infrastructure bill has shown our country what our politics could -- and should -- look like. … It’s time to show the world that bipartisan agreement in this country is still possible and that America can still find ways to tackle our biggest challenges, not just appease the loudest voices.”