Nancy Pelosi pulls vote on Biden build bill as Democrats split

The move is a stark illustration of the deep internal divisions threatening President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda.

Nancy Pelosi parades the bill sent to Joe Biden on Friday. Picture: AFP

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew a promised vote on a $1.2 trillion ($1.6 trillion) infrastructure Bill late on Thursday (Friday AEST) after failing to win enough support from her own Democrats, in a stark illustration of the deep internal divisions threatening President Joe Biden’s agenda.

Ms Pelosi had promised to put up the legislation in the lower chamber after it advanced from the Senate with cross-party support, with moderates keen to notch an easy victory for Mr Biden on what would be one of the largest spending packages in history.

But progressives insisted they would sink the proposals after getting no clear sign from the centrist faction that they would commit to an even broader $US3.5 trillion social spending package Mr Biden is touting as the cornerstone of his plan to transform the US economy.

The threat left Ms Pelosi with a dilemma: bring the infrastructure Bill to the floor, where it has very little Republican support and would likely be sunk by Democrat liberals, or risk the ire of moderates by announcing a delay.

Ms Pelosi didn’t comment immediately, but the White House vowed to bring the warring groups back to the table on Mr Biden’s two-pronged strategy first thing on Friday.

“A great deal of progress has been made this week, and we are closer to an agreement than ever,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “But we are not there yet, and so we will need some additional time to finish the work, starting tomorrow morning first thing.”

The prospect of the infrastructure Bill being signed into law appeared to be out of reach throughout a day of intense negotiations in congress and the White House, with no agreement on the contents or proposed ticket price for the giant social welfare Bill, known as Build Back Better.

A group of Republicans who backed the infrastructure deal in the Senate, including former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, released a statement saying they were “disappointed” with the setback but hopeful the Bill would eventually succeed.

A long day in Washington had started on a brighter note with congress sending a stopgap Bill with support from both parties for Mr Biden’s signature to avert a damaging government shutdown at midnight — when the fiscal year ends. It was a rare show of cross-party unity that only threw into sharper relief the Democratic leadership’s struggle to overcome fierce infighting among its rank-and-file.

“There’s so much more to do,” the President said after signing the measure into law.

“But the passage of this Bill reminds us that bipartisan work is possible and it gives us time to pass longer-term funding to keep our government running and delivering for the American people.”

Despite some progress behind the scenes, Democrat progressives and moderates remain entrenched in a public war of words over the massive twin spending programs, as Republicans enjoy the disarray from the sidelines with one eye on next year’s midterm elections.

The progressives don’t trust that centrists, who object to the size and scope of the larger Build Back Better package, will honour an agreement to pass the legislation once infrastructure is across the line. Democrat senator Joe Manchin inflamed tensions on Wednesday with a statement arguing that trillions of dollars in extra spending was “fiscal insanity”, solidifying opposition to the smaller infrastructure Bill. He said on Thursday he was unwilling to go above $US1.5 trillion.

AFP