The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said on Sunday Democrats will pass a $1tn bipartisan infrastructure bill this week.
She also said she would work to build consensus on Joe Biden’s separate $3.5tn social agenda, which has caused divisions within the Democratic party.
“Let me just say that we’re going to pass the bill this week,” Pelosi told ABC’s This Week. “I’m never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn’t have the votes.”
The infrastructure deal has been placed in jeopardy by a split between moderate and progressive Democrats over the $3.5tn spending plan to address priorities including healthcare, childcare and the climate crisis.
Fights with Republicans over government funding – set to run out on Friday – and raising the debt ceiling have made Pelosi’s job still tougher.
The speaker promised moderates a vote on the infrastructure deal on Monday but it will almost certainly now come later. The House will reconvene late in the day.
Democrats have slim majorities in both chambers of Congress and must unite if they are to overcome Republican opposition to the Biden spending plan, known as the Build Back Better Act.
Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, a leading progressive, told CNN’s State of the Union: “I know we’re working very hard to get agreement on the reconciliation package and that of course has to be agreement across the Senate and the House because we are not going to leave anyone behind.”
She also said Pelosi did not have the votes to pass the bipartisan infrastructure deal on Monday.
“The speaker is an incredibly good vote counter,” Jayapal said, “and she knows exactly where her caucus stands.”
Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, a leading House moderate, pronounced himself satisfied, saying: “We’ve been working for months since April on this bipartisan infrastructure plan.
“… Every single Democrat in the House voted to bring it to the floor for a vote this week, we’re going to do it, we’re going to have the votes, it’ll come up tomorrow, and we’re gonna vote early this week. I am very confident that we’ll get this done.
“We also need to get reconciliation done, we need to get both done, and the speaker has said she’ll get the votes, and no one’s better [at that] than the speaker and so we’re gonna have a big week for the country.”
