The Democratic-run House on Tuesday continued to work on advancing President Joe Biden’s big spending plans, with the chamber’s leaders sounding upbeat on having the support of moderate Democratic representatives for a key procedural vote.
The House failed to hold a procedural vote on Monday night as planned for a “rule” that aims to set up future passage of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion package targeting social spending, climate change and other Democratic priorities.
But the rule now appears on track to pass on Tuesday, with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer predicting exactly that during a call with reporters.
“My expectation is that it will pass early this afternoon,” said Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat.
A group of 10 moderate Democratic House lawmakers, up from nine earlier, had been withholding support because the representatives want the infrastructure bill to get approved before the larger package.
Related: Biden’s agenda facing test this week as Pelosi, moderate Democrats in standoff
The deal that appears to have won them over involves having the rule commit the House to holding an infrastructure vote by Sept. 27.
On Tuesday morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was not far from achieving a deal with the moderates.
“I think we’re close to landing the plane,” Pelosi told fellow Democrats, according to multiple published reports.
Pelosi and Hoyer also have been facing pressure from progressive House Democrats who say they won’t support the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless the $3.5 trillion package moves ahead as well. They have a narrow House majority and can afford no more than three defections by Democrats on legislation if there’s no Republican support for it.
Infrastructure stocks, as tracked by the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF PAVE, +0.72%, traded 0.9% higher on Tuesday, while the broad S&P 500 index SPX, +0.20% edged up 0.3%.
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