U.S. House advances Biden's multi-trillion-dollar domestic agenda

Reuters

Published Aug 24, 2021 10:44AM ET

Updated Aug 24, 2021 04:47PM ET

By David Morgan and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to advance key parts of President Joe Biden's agenda, after moderates and progressives reached a compromise allowing them to move forward on the multitrillion-dollar plans.

In a party-line 220-212 vote, it approved a $3.5 trillion budget framework to advance progressives' ambitious plans to expand child care and other social programs, and agreed to vote by Sept. 27 on a $1 trillion Senate-passed infrastructure bill that is a top priority for moderate Democrats.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also said her chamber would work with the Senate to nail down the details of the larger $3.5 trillion budget.

Biden's fellow Democrats have little room for error as they try to approve the two massive spending initiatives in the House and Senate, where the party holds razor-thin majorities.

"Passing an infrastructure bill is always exciting for what it means in terms of jobs and commerce in our country," Pelosi said. "Now more than ever, it also has to be a part of protecting our environment."

Pelosi had hoped to quickly approve the $3.5 trillion budget outline https://www.reuters.com/world/us/paid-leave-clean-energy-preschool-democrats-35-trln-plan-2021-08-09, which would enable lawmakers to begin filling in the details on the sweeping package that would boost spending on child care, education and other social programs and raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

But centrist Democrats, led by Representative Josh Gottheimer, had refused to go along, saying the House must first pass the infrastructure bill https://www.reuters.com/world/us/whats-us-senates-bipartisan-1-trillion-infrastructure-bill-2021-08-03, which has already won approval by Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.

Liberals, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have said they will not support the smaller package without the larger one, fearing they will lose leverage.

"These negotiations are never easy," said House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern.

Pelosi said the House would work with the Senate on the details of the massive budget outline, which Senate Democrats plan to pass using a maneuver that gets around that chamber's normal rules requiring 60 of the 100 senators to agree to pass most legislation.