Washington: President Biden made a direct appeal to House lawmakers, urging them to vote yes on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $1.2 trillion social policy and climate plan. But moderates insisted on an official cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office before supporting the larger bill. Democratic leaders toiled on Friday to overcome an 11th-hour blockade by moderate and conservative lawmakers of their $1.2 trillion social policy, climate and tax package, pressing for a quick vote on the bill that would also allow final passage of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure measure.
Despite public and private appeals from President Biden, at least four conservative-leaning lawmakers were refusing to move forward with the social safety net bill, demanding more information about the cost and economic impact of the rapidly evolving legislation. “I’m asking every House member, member of the House of Representatives, to vote yes on both these bills right now,” Mr. Biden said at the White House as party leaders huddled privately with the centrists in a frenzied effort to assuage their concerns and keep plans for Friday votes on track.
As Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a marathon round of meetings in her Capitol office to try to resolve the internal disputes, Mr. Biden called the holdouts and pushed for a quick resolution. House leaders started the day aiming for votes to advance the social policy bill and clear the infrastructure measure — the largest investment in the nation’s aging public works in a decade — for Mr. Biden’s signature. The delay felt painfully familiar to Democrats and Mr. Biden, who have tried and failed twice in the last several weeks to push the pair of bills through the House, only to see their plans impeded by internal divisions. It angered many Democrats who were eager to leave Washington for a weeklong recess and claim victory on their agenda.