Pelosi talks cost concerns when pressed on support for massive Biden bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters to brace for a long night Thursday as she tries to pass President Biden’s massive spending plans — despite concern from moderates over how a multi-trillion-dollar social spending bill would be paid for and whether there is still a will for it after Tuesday’s brutal election results.
Pundits say the gubernatorial loss by Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia to Glenn Youngkin and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy eking out a re-election win over Jack Ciattarelli reflect opposition to Biden’s agenda, and even Vice President Kamala Harris had called the Virginia race a bellwether.
But Pelosi (D-Calif.) doubled down, adding back provisions such as four weeks of paid family leave and an increased SALT tax exemption that had been scrapped from the large spending bill as of last week. The additions could greatly increase the cost of Biden’s $1.75 trillion social and environmental spending plan.
Pelosi said she will try to break months of gridlock by passing on Thursday both a Senate-passed $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, which progressives in her party have held hostage until the Senate agrees to the larger spending bill, and the sprawling sequel.
But asked whether she has the votes, Pelosi acknowledged concerns that some Democrats have over the spending and how it’s paid for amid rising inflation.
“We have questions that members had, whether it’s about, ‘Is it really paid for?’ That was one of the — yesterday we had a session where listened to them and they want to know, ‘Is it really paid for — and how?’” she said.
“We’re gonna pass both bills. But in order to do so, we have to have votes for both bills and that’s where we are,” Pelosi said.
The speaker also said the House would not approve the infrastructure bill without also passing the larger spending package. House leftists say both bills must pass and have threatened to tank the infrastructure bill as leverage.
Centrist Democrats say they’re concerned that the House’s 2,135-page version of the social and environmental bill, released Wednesday, hasn’t been scored by the Congressional Budget Office, a process that could take weeks.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), who heads the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, told The Post, “I have the radical notion that before I vote on a bill, I should know how much it cost and how much we’re paying for it.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) told reporters on Thursday there are still areas that need to be worked out, including language on SALT.
“We need to make sure that all these provisions are worked through…. It’s hard to know exactly where you are until you work through all you’ve got to read a finished product,” he said.
Two Democratic lawmakers told The Post it’s possible the House convenes over the weekend to allow more time to iron out final details of the social spending and environment bill.
The nonpartisan US Joint Committee on Taxation said Thursday said that the larger bill would raise $1.5 trillion in revenue through new taxes and stricter IRS enforcement — meaning much of it may not be paid for, which would increase the national debt and inflation.
The infrastructure bill, which House passage would send to Biden’s desk, would add $256 billion in debt over 10 years, the CBO said. The White House disputes that assessment.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden “supports Speaker Pelosi and is behind any timing she feels is right” on passing the two bills.
Jean-Pierre said that Biden had not spoken with critical Senate moderate Joe Manchin of West Virginia recently, but that “my colleagues have been in touch with him for over the past couple of days.”
Biden last week announced a compromise social spending “framework” that he said would cost $1.75 trillion, but House Democrats this week added back many costly provisions, including four weeks of paid parental and family leave and a repeal of the $10,000 cap on state and local taxes that can be deducted from federal taxes by residents of high-tax states like New York and New Jersey.
Pelosi gave no indication of timing for the votes in a mid-afternoon letter to lawmakers amid rumblings of discontent from moderates who want a CBO assessment before a vote.
“We are proceeding with transformative legislation to drive historic progress For The People, For The Children and For The Planet!” Pelosi said, with no update on when she might call a vote.
With an eight-seat House advantage, Pelosi can lose very few members of her own party — including leftists concerned about the long odds of the social bill passing the Senate and centrists who say it’s irresponsible to pass bills without knowing the cost.
“Nobody elected [Biden] to be FDR. They elected him to be normal and stop the chaos,” moderate Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) told the New York Times Wednesday.
The final form and fate of the social and environmental package will be determined by Democratic centrists in the evenly divided Senate, including Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. The bill can pass with a bare majority in the Senate under special budget reconciliation rules.
Manchin said the Tuesday election outcome — with Republican victories in Virginia and a dramatic drop in support for Democrats in New Jersey — reflects voter concern about worsening inflation and the rising cost of goods, which critics attribute in part to prior COVID-19 relief legislation.
“I think they spoke loud and clear at the voting booth. And I hope everybody listens,” Manchin said Wednesday. He said in a Fox News interview that he thought the message from voters was “kind of slow down and take a breath. Let’s look at this.”
