House Democrats return to advance Biden's agenda in face of crises
By Scott Wong and Cristina Marcos - 08/23/21 06:00 AM EDT
House Democrats are interrupting their summer recess and returning to Washington on Monday to advance President Biden’s ambitious domestic agenda as his administration struggles to contain a foreign policy crisis in Afghanistan and the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
At this politically perilous moment, Biden and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill can’t afford to have two key components of the president’s Build Back Better agenda — a game-changing $3.5 trillion social benefits package and $1.2 trillion infrastructure measure — stall out and lose momentum.
But that’s precisely what’s at risk of happening this week as tempers flare and progressives and Democratic centrists publicly battle over the tactics for moving the pair of spending packages forward. Nine moderates are threatening to tank the $3.5 trillion plan unless party leaders first hold a vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure legislation and send it to Biden’s desk.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is refusing to budge and sticking with her strategy, one backed by Biden and top progressives, to approve a budget resolution that will pave the way for Democrats this fall to pass the $3.5 trillion package without a single Republican vote.
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https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/infrastructure/568829-house-democrats-return-to-advance-bidens-agenda-in-face
