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A moderate Democratic House lawmaker ripped his party’s “far-left faction” after they forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi to make changes to an infrastructure bill that delayed a vote on the measure Friday.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, leader of a moderate group of Democrats, noted in a statement it was “deeply regrettable” that Pelosi broke her pledge to hold a vote on the legislation after claiming that a “small far-left faction” in the House blocked it.
Gottheimer, who has had issues with the “progressive” wing of the Democratic Party in the past, has also butted heads with them over two massive spending bills Democrats hope to pass as part of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.
The Daily Mail reported:
Gottheimer urged Democrats to pass the bipartisan infrastructure deal right away and then proceed to focus on the$3.5 trillion reconciliation bill separately.
But Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington State is pushing for the two to be linked.
Ultimately the infrastructure bill vote has been delayed. Jayapal blamed ‘conservative Democrats’ saying they were in the way of the president’s agenda.
Hours later, Gottheimer put out a statement slamming ‘this far left faction’ accusing them of ‘putting civility and bipartisan governing at risk.’
His full statement, in which he also took a shot at Pelosi, reads:
It’s deeply regrettable that Speaker Pelosi breached her firm, public commitment to Members of Congress and the American people to hold a vote and to pass the once-in-a-century bipartisan infrastructure bill on or before September 27. Specifically, the Speaker said, “I am committing to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill by September 27. I do so with a commitment to rally House Democratic support for its passage.” That agreement was sealed with the vote of every Democrat in the House on August 24, which put the commitment in writing.
Along with a group of Members, I’ve been working around-the-clock to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, legislation we helped craft back in April with my Senate colleagues. But a small far left faction of the House of Representatives undermined that agreement and blocked a critical vote on the President’s historic bipartisan infrastructure bill.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill will make generational investments in roads, bridges, tunnels, and public transit, finally build the Gateway Tunnel, expand broadband access, protect communities from lead water, improve climate resiliency, build electric vehicle infrastructure, and help create two million jobs every year for a decade.
We cannot let this small faction on the far left — who employ Freedom Caucus tactics, as described by the New York Times today — destroy the President’s agenda and stop the creation of two million jobs a year — including for the millions of hard-working men and women of labor. We were elected to achieve reasonable, commonsense solutions for the American people — not to obstruct from the far wings. This far left faction is willing to put the President’s entire agenda, including this historic bipartisan infrastructure package, at risk. They’ve put civility and bipartisan governing at risk.
I will not stop fighting for the people I represent, and I will not stop fighting to get the historic, bipartisan infrastructure bill across the finish line — to support the communities, families, and workers of New Jersey.
The delays come amid a visit to Capitol Hill by Biden on Friday, during which he attempted to convince reluctant moderate Democrats in the Senate — namely Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — to sign on to his “Build Back Better” legislation, the larger of the two spending bills.
But Manchin has said repeatedly said, and he reiterated his position again on Thursday, that he can’t support the $3.5 trillion bill, proposing instead to pare it to $1.5 trillion.
Most other Democrats have rejected that, including the far-left “Squad” of progressives who have insisted that bill must pass before the $1.5 trillion infrastructure package.
