Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said on Monday that members will vote for a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill despite no assurance from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) that he will vote for a separate $1.75 trillion reconciliation bill.
“The president says he can get 51 votes for the bill,” Jayapal told Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC Monday. “We are going to trust him.”
Earlier in the day, Manchin held a press conference in which he accused House progressives of playing “political games” and said, “Holding this bill hostage is not going to work in getting my support for this reconciliation bill.”
The House was scheduled to vote last week on the $1.2 trillion bill, which passed the Senate 69 to 30 in August as 19 Republicans joined all Democrats in voting for it. It was supposed to be one of two large spending packages that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) saidthe Senate would pass, with the other being via the budget reconciliation process, which requires a simple majority to pass legislation, as opposed to 60 votes through regular order. Jayapal had said her caucus would not vote for the bipartisan deal until the Senate also passed a reconciliation bill.
