Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Nancy Pelosi's ability to mend Democratic differences is being put to the test with infrastructure vote

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Nancy Pelosi's ability to mend Democratic differences is being put to the test with infrastructure vote

Ledyard King, USA TODAY 2 hrs ago

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WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing hard to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill Thursday, opting to move ahead on a vote even as the left-wing faction of her caucus threatens to vote against the legislation.

Progressives want the Senate to pass a $3.5 trillion bill packed with a number of liberal policy positions before the House takes up the $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation with money for roads and bridges. Pelosi backed this approach for weeks, saying the two bills must be passed in tandem.

Monday, the speaker reversed course, telling her caucus in a closed-door meeting the House could no longer delay a vote on the infrastructure bill as negotiations continue on the bigger bill.

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Saying their "approach had to change," the San Francisco Democrat tried to reassure members that "it isn't about diminishing the importance" of the larger budget bill.

Pelosi's reversal shows the tightrope she is trying to walk. Thursday's vote will be a test of her deal-making ability, a skill utilized over her two decades as House Democratic leader and, most recently, as she works to keep her caucus together to pass Biden's massive domestic agenda that would make historic investments in infrastructure, caregiving and fighting climate change.

Failing to pass either bill could have major consequences for Democrats, who promised ambitious change when they took over both chambers of Congress and the White House in January.

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Pelosi seems confident she'll steer her party and pass Biden's agenda. Others point to her ability to surmount obstacles, such as passing the Affordable Care Act (also known as "Obamacare") and COVID-19 relief and confronting President Donald Trump.

Despite tall odds, Elaine Kamarck , an expert on Congress who directs the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution in Washington, is not counting Pelosi out.

"I think she'll pull it off. She's just a consummate dealmaker," Kamarck said. "She's got a reputation for pulling the cat out of the bag at the last minute, and I don't see any reason why she can't do it again."

Two days before the vote, liberals dug in, saying assurances of a later vote aren't enough and vowing to oppose the infrastructure bill unless the larger bill comes first.

“As our members have made clear for three months, the two are integrally tied together, and we will only vote for the infrastructure bill after passing the reconciliation bill," Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote in a letter Tuesday.

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Pelosi has acknowledged the complexity of passing the major pieces of legislation with a slim majority (she can't lose more than three Democrats on a vote). She pushed back a vote on the infrastructure bill from Monday to Thursday after liberals threatened to oppose it unless the larger measure advances as well.

To Pelosi, it's been a balancing act as she tries to shepherd Biden's agenda through a divided caucus whose members represent a rainbow of blue, purple and even red districts.

For weeks, she's been able to bring moderates and liberals along, but steadfast concerns from Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona that the larger bill is too big forced Pelosi's hand this week.

"We can't have a bill that won't pass the Senate," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday.

Republicans have assailed Pelosi for holding the infrastructure bill "hostage in an effort to coerce moderate Democrats to vote for (Sen. Bernie) Sanders’ dangerous, multitrillion-dollar, cradle-to-grave, reengineering of America," Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said Tuesday.

Apart from Biden's agenda, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are trying to come up with a plan to fund the government and avoid a government shutdown by midnight Thursday and raise the nation's borrowing ability by mid-October to stave off the economic catastrophe that would result if America defaulted on its debts.

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Norman Ornstein with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington credits Pelosi for keeping her caucus together for this long. He's not ready to declare her a loser in the fight.

"What she's done is to buy time to get a deal," he said. "Whatever that deal is, you can be pretty confident that Pelosi will keep her troops together to support it."

The feud within her caucus, if not resolved, not only could sink Biden's agenda but make it harder for Democrats to maintain their House majority in the 2022 midterm elections.

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Despite the lingering differences, Pelosi has expressed confidence in her caucus.

"I'm never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes," she said Sunday on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos."

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She's handled tougher challenges, Ornstein and Kamarck said, referring to Pelosi's success in dragging President Barack Obama's signature health care bill over the finish line in 2009.

"In some ways, Obamacare was a bigger challenge than even this is because people in the White House, if the history is to be believed, had given up on Obamacare, and she said, 'No, we're gonna do this' and pulled it through. So I think this is doable," Kamarck said. "I think there's lots of opportunities for people, for all the sides, to give in on things, and in the end, if Democrats don't pass these two things, then they deserve to lose in 2022. It'll just be irresponsible abdication of their power."

Pelosi wasn't even supposed to lead this fight. She had planned to retire after her 2016 reelection, expecting Hillary Clinton would win the presidential race, according to USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page's book “Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power."

Trump's victory compelled her to stay, and in 2018, she regained the speakership she lost in 2010 when the Republicans came to power. The first female speaker pulled off the rare feat of climbing back into power.

There was a price for the legislative victories in 2009, especially a carbon emissions bill that cost many Midwest moderates their seats: Republicans stormed back to win the House on a tide of tea party support.

"You can enact a good portion of your program and still lose," Ornstein said. "But if you don't enact your program, you've given a much, much greater likelihood that you're going to lose because your own base is going to be just devastated."

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Kamarck said the political skills that allowed her to maintain her leadership position are the same ones she'll use to get both bills passed.

"I think she is indefatigable. She works around the clock, and she keeps at it," Kamarck said. "Being a legislative leader is herding cats. One of the real mistakes that they made a couple of years ago when they tried to get rid of her ... was not understanding that it isn't about symbolism or speechmaking or anything like that when you're legislative leader. It is all about herding cats, and it's all about putting the deal together. And she excels in that, and her 20 years have just made her better and better at that."

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Slide 1 of 34: US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, speaks during her weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 25, 2021.

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US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, speaks during her weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 25, 2021.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nancy Pelosi's ability to mend Democratic differences is being put to the test with infrastructure vote