After Democrats ended a months-long deadlock between 'progressives' and 'semi-conservatives', the House adopted a $1 trillion package of road and other infrastructure projects, clinching a triumph that President Joe Biden and his party had become increasingly eager to claim.
The proposal was approved by House 228-206 late Friday, triggering extended applause from the chamber's relieved Democratic side. Thirteen Republicans, primarily moderates, backed the bill, while six Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri rejected it.
The bill, which would create tens of thousands of jobs and improve broadband, water supplies, and other public works, was quickly approved and sent to the desk of a president whose approval ratings have fallen and whose nervous party received a cold shoulder from voters in this week's off-year elections.
Democratic governor candidates were defeated in Virginia and narrowly beaten in New Jersey, both blue-states. These losses pushed party leaders — as well as moderates and progressives — eager to pass meaningful legislation and demonstrate their ability to govern. Democrats cannot afford to appear disorganized a year before midterm elections, which might result in Republicans reclaiming control of Congress.
Simply releasing the infrastructure bill for final legislative approval was a rush of exhilaration for Democrats. Despite the victory, Democrats suffered a setback when they postponed a vote on a second, even larger plan this month.
That 10-year, $1.85 trillion bills expanding health, family, and climate change programs was derailed after moderates sought a cost estimate from the neutral Congressional Budget Office. The postponement crushed hopes that Biden would achieve a double-barreled victory with the passage of both proposals.
However, in an overnight compromise engineered by Biden and House leaders, five moderates agreed to support the plan if CBO projections are consistent with early numbers offered by the White House and congressional tax specialists. The deal, in which members agreed to vote on the social and environmental bill by the week of Nov. 15, was a key step toward a House vote that might eventually send it to the Senate.
