Before the House summer recess, had Pelosi put the $1.2 trillion bipartisan spending bill on the floor, it would have easily passed.
Instead, House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) rolled the die, stating that she wanted to attach the bill to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.
That delay now has Republicans that supported the package upset, and they are threatening to pull their support of the spending bill.
Crushing Blow
When the bipartisan bill came up, moderates on both sides of the aisle wanted the bill passed immediately.
Pelosi knew that many of these House members, on both sides, may not support the larger bill.
Her thought process was that she would dangle one to get approval for the other, but it is not working.
Knowing the two bills are tied together, Republicans who supported the bill are now pushing back, which could be a major problem for Pelosi.
She had more than enough cushion to get the bill passed before the break, but now there are Democrats in her party resisting the smaller package.
Without the cushion from Republicans, both bills could now die in the House.
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) stated, “I think Nancy Pelosi did this whole process a real disservice by linking them together so strongly and she continues to do that.
“And that makes it very difficult to bring Republicans to the party.
“I think for honest, forthright fiscal conservatives, it’s hard to get excited about the trillion-dollar deal if in any way it makes it more likely that the three-and-a-half trillion-dollar deal passes.”
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) warned Pelosi this would happen before the recess, stating, “If the [infrastructure bill] is linked to any other bill or held up for months, that support would fall apart.”
Johnson believes if the reconciliation package dies, there could be as many as 100 Republicans that would support the bipartisan package in the House.
He stated, “I think if reconciliation were to just die tomorrow and know we were able to put that monstrosity to bed, I think you would see somewhere between 50 and 100 Republican votes on infrastructure.”
Johnson then added, “Speaker Pelosi is absolutely holding the infrastructure bill hostage. … There are not just nine or 10 Democrats who are concerned about how breathtakingly large the $4.7 trillion combined package is.
“I mean, there might be 100 Democrats that have some concerns.
“And I think Nancy Pelosi is an expert at leverage. … And I think she understands how to put some of these Democrats into a box.”
If the support collapses, this would be an epic defeat for both Pelosi and Biden.
They got greedy, and now they may walk away from the table with nothing.
Source: Fox News
