Biden signs bill averting shutdown as heated infrastructure debate drags on – as it happened

Pelosi appears to still be hanging onto the possibility of a vote on the $1tn infrastructure bill today.

Democratic leaders have signaled that no votes would occur before 10pm DC time, but have not ruled out the possibility of ironing out a deal by tonight. Progressives have said they would not vote on the bill until the $3.5tn reconciliation package is passed – but that’s not going to happen given moderate Joe Manchin’s staunch opposition to the proposal.

It’s still unclear when there will be a vote on an infrastructure bill.

Here’s what Nancy Pelosi had to say...

What is the infrastructure bill and will it pass?

This is a cornerstone of the Biden agenda, investing $1tn in roads, railways, bridges, ports, airports, broadband internet and more.

On Thursday the House was scheduled to vote on the infrastructure bill that passed the Senate last month in a bipartisan vote (with 19 Republicans voting yes). But since then House Republicans have been backing away from the bill, in a move to deny Biden a victory.

Pelosi also faces a revolt from an influential group of progressive Democrats who warned she must hold it back until a bigger, $3.5tn social and environmental investment bill is nailed down.

The progressives want Pelosi to stand by earlier statements that both bills would move through Congress together. They fear that, once centrist Democrats have infrastructure in the bag, they will go cold on the bigger commitment.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a leader of House progressives, said: “We are not blindly trusting that these bills are going to get done in the Senate, without actually having that be guaranteed.”

It is unlikely that Pelosi will go ahead with the vote unless she is assured of victory. So postponement to a later date remains possible, a move that centrists have warned would represent “a significant breach in trust”.

When questioned by Bloomberg reporter Ari Natter about the energy company he founded, Joe Manchin was none too pleased:

Manchin earned $500,000 in 2020 the private coal brokerage firm Enersystems, which he founded in 1998, and which his son now runs. And he has received major contributions from Exxon lobbyists. Yet, he chairs Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which regulates the industry.

OPINION: Joe Manchin, America’s climate decider-in-chief, is a coal baron

Mark Hertsgaard writes for the Guardian:

Joe Manchin has never been this famous. People around the world now know that the West Virginia Democrat is the essential 50th vote in the US Senate that president Joe Biden needs to pass his agenda into law. That includes Biden’s climate agenda. Which doesn’t bode well for defusing the climate emergency, given Manchin’s longstanding opposition to ambitious climate action.

It turns out that the Senator wielding this awesome power – America’s climate decider-in-chief, one might call him – has a massive climate conflict of interest. Joe Manchin, investigative journalism has revealed, is a modern-day coal baron.

Financial records detailed by reporter Alex Kotch for the Center for Media and Democracy and published in the Guardian show that Manchin makes roughly half a million dollars a year in dividends from millions of dollars of coal company stock he owns. The stock is held in Enersystems, Inc, a company Manchin started in 1988 and later gave to his son, Joseph, to run.

Coal has been the primary driver of global warming since coal began fueling the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain 250 years ago. Today, the science is clear: coal must be phased out, starting immediately and around the world, to keep the 1.5C target within reach.

Scientists estimate that 90% of today’s coal reserves must be left in the ground. No new coal-fired power plants should be built. Existing plants should quickly shift to solar and wind, augmented by reducing electricity demand with better energy efficiency in buildings and machinery (which also saves money and produces more jobs).

This is not a vision that gladdens a coal baron’s heart. The idea of eliminating fossil fuels is “very, very disturbing”, Manchin said in July when specifics of Biden’s climate agenda surfaced. Behind the scenes, Manchin reportedly has objected to Biden’s plan to penalize electric utilities that don’t quit coal as fast as science dictates.

Read more:

The Senate approved Rohit Chopra as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), voting 50-48.

Chopra, 39, served on the Federal Trade Commission and worked with senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to establish the CFPB in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. His appointment was uncertain after he drew criticism from free-market conservatives who saw him as “anti-business”

In March, the Senate Banking Committee voted with a 12-12 tie on Chopra’s nomination, failing to advance him to a broader vote - but senate leader Chuck Schumer chose to disregard of “discharge” that vote.

Chopra has promised to crack down on banks’ use of online behavioral advertising and look at their data collection practices. He has also said he will focus on fair lending issues as CFPB director.

Progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized moderate Democrats like Joe Manchin over their handling of the infrastructure negotiations.

Ocasio-Cortez reframed the moderate wing of her party as “conservative,” accusing fellow Democrats of failing to engage with their colleagues in a substantive way.

“Right now, what we are seeing from the conservative side, this small cadre of people, is a fundamentally unserious pattern of negotiation,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Ocasio-Cortez is one of the dozens of House progressives threatening to vote against the infrastructure bill unless the reconciliation package advances at the same time.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi has just signed the stopgap government funding bill, formally sending the legislation to the White House for Joe Biden’s signature.

The president will need to sign the bill before midnight to avoid a government shutdown, and he is expected to do so.

“It really is exciting to keep government open,” Pelosi said as she signed the bill.

Vice-President Kamala Harris was on Capitol Hill today to break a tie vote in the Senate over Rohit Chopra’s nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Asked about the fate of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Harris told CNN that she is “confident” the House will pass the proposal.

But the vice-president would not say whether she believed the bill would be passed today, as previously expected. “I don’t have that answer,” Harris said.

The House is now in recess, after the chamber passed the government funding bill to prevent a shutdown at midnight.

It remains unclear whether House speaker Nancy Pelosi has the votes to hold a final vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill today, as she previously planned to do.

Pelosi is expected to hold more meetings with members of the Democratic caucus as the House is in recess. Stay tuned.

The House vote on the stopgap government funding bill remains open, but there are now enough votes to pass the measure.

As of now, 233 House members, including 26 Republicans, have voted in favor of the bill, which would allow the country to avoid a government shutdown at midnight.

The bill needs a simple majority of 218 votes to pass, so it should have more than enough support to get approved. Stay tuned.

The House is now voting on the stopgap government funding bill, which the Senate passed about an hour and a half ago.

The House is expected to pass the bill as well and then send it to the desk of Joe Biden, who must sign the legislation before midnight to prevent a government shutdown.

A reporter asked Jen Psaki whether Joe Biden plans to speak publicly today about the negotiations over the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.

“We’ll see,” the White House press secretary said.

“I can’t make a prediction for you now, but it is certainly possible. It’s also possible he has more meetings. He’ll certainly make more phone calls, possibly moves.”

Jen Psaki downplayed concerns about Democrats’ ongoing squabbles over the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.

“This is how democracy works. I know that feels foreign since there wasn’t a lot of it over the last couple of years,” the White House press secretary said, getting in a dig against the Trump administration.

Psaki said Joe Biden will be devoting the rest of his day to trying to reach an agreement on the reconciliation package, thus freeing up House progressives to vote for the infrastructure bill.

One reporter asked Psaki how Biden is following the ongoing negotiations and if he has, for example, a whiteboard with an updated whip count on the two bills.

Psaki said there is (unfortunately) no whiteboard because the president is “more of a paper-and-pen kind of guy”.

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing, and she’s providing an update on negotiations over the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.

Asked about the news that Joe Manchin’s preferred top-line cost of the reconciliation package is $1.5tn, which is far less than what progressives want, Psaki said, “It’s messy, this sausage-making on Capitol Hill. Policymaking is messy.”

Psaki acknowledged there are more hurdles to overcome before reaching a deal on the reconciliation package, but she expressed hope that the House would still be able to pass the infrastructure bill later today.

As of now, it’s unclear whether the House will be able to pass the infrastructure bill because dozens of progressives remain opposed to the legislation unless an agreement is reached on the reconciliation package.

“We’re working towards winning a vote tonight,” Psaki said. “We have several hours left in the day.”

The House is now debating the Senate-approved government funding bill, with a final vote on the legislation likely to occur within an hour.

The House is expected to pass the proposal and send it to Joe Biden, who must sign the bill before midnight to avoid a government shutdown.

Kyrsten Sinema is pushing back against criticism from progressives that she has not been transparent about her stance on the reconciliation package, saying she has shared specific concerns about the bill with Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer.

Sinema, a key moderate vote in the debate over the reconciliation bill, released a statement saying that she communicated her concerns about the legislation in August.

“Senator Sinema said publicly more than two months ago, before Senate passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, that she would not support a bill costing $3.5 trillion,” the statement from her office says.

“In August, she shared detailed concerns and priorities, including dollar figures, directly with Senate Majority Leader Schumer and the White House. Claims that the Senator has not detailed her views to President Biden and Senator Schumer are false.”

The statement adds that Sinema “continues to engage directly in good-faith discussions with both President Biden and Senator Schumer to find common ground”.

Earlier today, Politico obtained a memo showing Joe Manchin told Schumer in July that his preferred top-line cost for the reconciliation bill is $1.5tn, which is far less than the current price tag of $3.5tn.

Fifteen Senate Republicans, including minority leader Mitch McConnell, joined all 50 Senate Democrats in voting for the stopgap government funding bill.

Here is the full list of Republicans who supported the bill:

The stopgap bill will keep the government funded at its current levels through December 3, giving Congress more time to negotiate over a more comprehensive piece of legislation.

Democrats had originally hoped to include a debt ceiling suspension in the government funding bill, but Republicans blocked those efforts, as they remain unified in their opposition to raising or suspending the debt ceiling.

Congress will need to approve a debt ceiling hike or suspension by October 18 in order to avoid a default, which could result in the loss of millions of US jobs.

Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar spoke about her current frustrations with the stalled reconciliation package, a major tax and spending bill that has faced criticism from moderate Democrats.

“What do they want to cut? Childcare for families that desperately need it? Do they want to not address the climate crisis for a future generation? Do they not want homecare programs for our seniors and the disabled? These are the conversations we’re waiting to have,” Omar said in an interview with MSNBC.

Omar is one of the progressives threatening to oppose the infrastructure bill, which is still theoretically scheduled for a House vote today, unless the reconciliation package is approved simultaneously.

After meeting with speaker Nancy Pelosi, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said her view remains unchanged on the infrastructure bill.

“We have called for the reconciliation bill to be passed first, and then we’ll happily vote for the infrastructure bill,” congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said, per Forbes.

Jayapal also reiterated that half of her 96-member caucus remains committed to voting against the infrastructure bill until a reconciliation package is approved.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of California stumbled through an answer on Thursday when asked if he had changed his views on same-sex marriage.

After Liz Cheney from Wyoming admitted in a recent interview with 60 minutes that she was “wrong” to oppose equal marriage, a reporter asked McCarthy if his views had similarly changed.

“Look — same-sex marriage is the law of the land, and it’s what America holds, and that’s the law of the land,” McCarthy said, seemingly not confirming what his own views were on the issue of marriage equality.

McCarthy previously aided in defeating a 2016 amendment aimed at upholding an executive order that banned discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors.

At one point during her press conference, Nancy Pelosi described the reconciliation package as “the culmination” of her political career.

“I just told members of my leadership that the reconciliation bill was a culmination of my service in Congress because it was about the children,” Pelosi said.

A reporter later noted that the use of the phrase “culmination” usually indicates the end of an experience, potentially pointing to Pelosi’s retirement.

“Get out of here,” Pelosi replied, adding that the reconciliation package represents “so much” of Democrats’ agenda.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi left her press conference by urging reporters to “think positively” about the negotiations over the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.

And yet, as Pelosi was making her comments, House majority leader Steny Hoyer said he was not confident that the infrastructure bill would pass today, as Democratic leadership had previously hoped.

Despite the stress of the day, House speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed to be in her element as she discussed the state of negotiations over the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package.

“Let me just tell you about negotiating. At the end, that’s when you really have to weigh in,” the Democratic speaker said at her press conference.

“You cannot tire. You cannot concede. This is the fun part.”

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is now holding her weekly press conference, and she is expected to provide an update on the timing of the infrastructure bill vote.

The Democratic speaker began her prepared remarks by applauding House Democrats for passing a bill yesterday to suspend the debt ceiling.

Pelosi criticized Republicans for refusing to help Democrats in suspending the debt ceiling, reiterating that a potential default could cost the US millions of jobs and wipe out trillions of dollars in wealth for American families.

Pelosi suggested that Congress should in the future reconsider how the debt ceiling is handled so lawmakers don’t have to go through this process year after year.

“We’ll have to examine that process,” Pelosi said.

The House-approved bill is expected to fail in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans have repeatedly blocked efforts to suspend the debt ceiling.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is meeting with her leadership team this morning, as she approaches a decision on whether to delay the vote on the infrastructure bill.

Leaving the meeting, House Democratic caucus chair Hakeem Jeffries would not give any indication as to whether the vote would be delayed, per the Wall Street Journal.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has indicated support for the government funding bill, likely ensuring its passage today.

“Today, the Senate will consider and pass a government funding bill and do our part to avoid a shutdown,” the Republican leader said in a floor speech.

McConnell celebrated that the stopgap funding bill does not include the “poison pill” of a debt ceiling suspension, which Republicans have opposed for months.

The minority leader once again called on Democrats to use the reconciliation process to suspend the debt ceiling, which would not require any Republican support.

“Clumsy attempts at partisan jams by the majority will not change that reality,” McConnell said. “It didn’t work on government funding, and it won’t work on the debt limit. They will just be wasting valuable time.”

Democrats have called on Republicans to help raise or suspend the debt ceiling in a bipartisan manner, which occurred during Donald Trump’s presidency.

The White House appears to already be downplaying expectations that the House will vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill today.

Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN this morning, “It is not some major cataclysm if there isn’t a vote today.”

Emphasizing that there is “full support” among congressional Democrats for Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, Granholm said there is some “negotiation around the margins” that still needs to take place in regards to the reconciliation package.

“But this will get through,” Granholm said. “Mark my words. The infrastructure bill will be passed and a version of the reconciliation bill will be as well.”

The next 24 hours will make clear whether Democrats are on the verge of pushing through a once-in-a-generation expansion of the social safety net or nearing a complete collapse of Joe Biden’s ambitious domestic agenda.

The stakes are as high as ever as Democrats barrel toward a make-or-break vote on a $1tn public works measure, with almost no margin for error and little time left to break an impasse that threatens to imperil its passage – and possibly the entirety of the president’s agenda.

Assurances of progress offered little comfort to nervous Democrats on Capitol Hill, where a series of legislative and fiscal deadlines loom.

“We’re obviously at a precarious and important time in these discussions,” the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, told reporters on Wednesday, as Biden spent the day locked in negotiations with Democratic leadership and lawmakers.

Returning from an Oval Office meeting with Biden on Wednesday afternoon, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, told reporters on Capitol Hill that she was prepared to move ahead with a vote on Thursday.

“That’s the plan,” she said, adding that they were taking it “one hour at a time”.