Democratic leaders have overcome a standoff between progressive and moderates and passed a $3.5 trillion budget plan. A group of moderate House Democrats had threatened to block the plan, potentially derailing a big part of President Biden's agenda, unless there was an immediate vote on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan passed by the Senate earlier this month, the Hill reports. The budget blueprint ended up passing the House 220-212 in a party-line vote Tuesday, with no Democratic defections, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed to commit to holding a vote on the infrastructure bill by Sept. 27. House committees are now working on details of the final legislation, "We must work together to do that in a way that passes the House and passes the Senate," Pelosi said.
Sources tell the AP that in a closed-door meeting before the vote, Pelosi said the legislation would lead to a federal investment on the scale of the New Deal and described delays caused by the standoff as just "part of the legislative process." The package—which will be largely paid for by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy—is expected to include an expansion of medicare and major investments in child care, education, and fighting climate change, but keeping the party united to pass the final legislation will be a tough task, reports the Washington Post. Democrats in the House and Senate are divided over the final price tag of the legislation and over how much of it should be paid for by tax increases. (More Congress stories.)
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