Nine Democrats, led by New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, threaten to oppose the fiscal 2022 budget resolution until the House passes and President Joe Biden signs the Senate-passed infrastructure bill. “We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law,” the Democrats said Friday in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association, is concerned. “NATE does not want the infrastructure bill to be a political pawn as different factions push their priorities in Congress,” Todd Washam, NATE Director of Government Relations and Wireless Industry Network, tells Inside Towers.
“The bill passed the Senate with a strong bipartisan vote, contains historic funding levels for broadband infrastructure, and includes several of NATE’s legislative and regulatory priorities,” Washam explained. “NATE continues to advocate that this legislation be considered in the House of Representatives without delay so we can get to work building out broadband and communications services to rural, unserved, and underserved communities.”
Besides Gottheimer, Democratic signatories include Georgia’s Carolyn Bourdeaux, Maine’s Jared Golden, Hawaii’s Ed Case, California’s Jim Costa, Oregon’s Kurt Schrader and Texans Filemon Vela, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez. Together, they’ve got more than enough support to stall the budget in the narrowly divided House because Democrats can lose no more than three members on party-line votes, reported Roll Call. No Republicans are expected to vote for the budget resolution, which is needed to begin the process on a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package full of Democratic priorities.
“Some have suggested that we hold off on considering the Senate infrastructure bill for months – until the reconciliation process is completed. We disagree,” wrote the nine lawmakers.
All nine members, except for Bourdeaux, signed a letter to Pelosi on Tuesday with a less threatening request for a standalone vote on the infrastructure bill, “without regard to other legislation.” Another Democrat, Nevada Rep. Susie Lee, signed that letter but did not sign onto the latest note.
Pelosi has repeatedly said she would not bring the bipartisan infrastructure bill to the House floor until the Senate passes the reconciliation legislation. The measure is not expected to be ready for floor action until late September at the earliest.
“This is the consensus,” Pelosi said on a Democratic Caucus call Wednesday, after the group’s initial letter pushing for a vote on the infrastructure bill. “The votes in the House and Senate depend on us having both bills.”
The Senate adopted the budget resolution early Wednesday on a 50-49, party-line vote, but the House also needs to adopt it to formally start the reconciliation process that allows the Senate to pass economic legislation with 51 votes instead of the usual 60 needed to cut off debate.
“We urge our House colleagues to follow the same path as the Senate: vote first on the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and then consider the budget resolution,” wrote the nine Democrats, touting the benefits of the infrastructure bill. The House is scheduled to return the week of August 23 to vote on the budget.
A senior Democratic aide told Roll Call there aren’t enough votes to pass the infrastructure bill this month, as “there are dozens upon dozens” of Democrats who will vote against the measure unless it comes after the Senate passes the reconciliation bill.
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