Progressives vs. Moderates: Democratic Factions Spar Over $3.5T Budget Resolution

The Democratic Party's progressive and moderate factions are in a tense confrontation over the future of President Joe Biden's two major pieces of legislation—the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package.

This week, Senate Democrats, joined by 19 GOP senators, passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, which Biden has hailed as a "historic investment" in the country's future. After the big bipartisan win, Senate Democrats swiftly approved a resolution to move forward with a budget reconciliation process to pass the $3.5 trillion "human infrastructure" component of Biden's Build Back Better agenda.

But both pieces of legislation now face an uncertain future in the House amid internal Democratic tensions. Moderate Democratic senators have also suggested they do not approve of final passage of the $3.5 trillion package.

On Friday, a group of nine moderate House Democrats wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asserting that they will not vote to move forward with the $3.5 trillion budget resolution until the $1.2 trillion bipartisan legislation clears the House. Their position is at odds with that of progressives and Pelosi, who have maintained that the two packages must be approved in tandem. With Democrats only narrowly controlling the House, Pelosi can afford to lose just three Democratic votes to move the bills forward.

On Wednesday, before the letter was sent to Pelosi, a leading progressive, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, slammed moderates amid reports that they would issue the ultimatum to the speaker.

"Conservative* House Democrats. Let's stop pretending that Dems who threaten to tank the President's agenda, kill childcare/Medicare expansion, and work w/ GOP to expand the cruelest parts of our immigration system are 'moderate,'" Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, tweeted. "They are not moderate. They're conservative."

On Tuesday, Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who serves as the Congressional Progressive Caucus' whip, sent out a press release asserting that a majority of her caucus's nearly 100 members "will not vote for a bipartisan infrastructure bill until the Senate passes a robust budget reconciliation bill to fund the rest of the American Jobs and Families Plans."

Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat who chairs the caucus, asserted that she and fellow progressives would remain firm in their position.

"Our Caucus is clear: the bipartisan bill will only be passed if a package of social, human, and climate infrastructure—reflecting long-standing Democratic priorities—is passed simultaneously through budget reconciliation," Jayapal said in a statement. "We know that Congressional Democrats are committed to delivering immediate and transformational improvements for the lives of the American people, and will hold firm to meet that promise."

The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package includes $110 billion for bridges, roads and highways. Additionally, it provides $39 billion for public transit, $66 billion for rail service, $65 billion for expanding broadband access, $65 billion to upgrade the nation's electric grid, $55 billion for the nation's water systems, $25 billion for airports, $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations and $5 billion to purchase electric school buses and hybrids, among other priorities.

While the traditional infrastructure package enjoyed substantial Republican support in the Senate, the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation proposal is not expected to gain any GOP backing. That substantially larger package—which Biden and Democratic leaders have billed as addressing "human infrastructure"—would expand access to Medicare, provide for paid leave, fund universal prekindergarten and child care, make two years of community college free, fund climate change initiatives and make Democrats' new Child Tax Credits permanent.

Even if Pelosi manages to bring moderates and progressives together in the House, the $3.5 trillion bill also faces moderate opposition in the Senate. Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have expressed serious reservations about the package. Although both moderate Democrats voted for the reconciliation process to move forward, they asserted said they have concerns and suggested they may oppose final passage.

"I firmly believe that continuing to spend at irresponsible levels puts at risk our nation's ability to respond to the unforeseen crises our country could face. I urge my colleagues to seriously consider this reality as this budget process unfolds in the coming weeks and months," Manchin said in a Wednesday statement. He added that he has "serious concerns" about the $3.5 trillion legislation.

Sinema made a similar statement, saying she supported beginning the budget reconciliation process but does "not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion." She said that "in the coming months I will work in good faith to develop this legislation with my colleagues and the administration to strengthen Arizona's economy and help Arizona's everyday families get ahead."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has downplayed the tensions among Democrats.

"Look, there are some in my caucus who might believe it's too much, there are some in my caucus who believe it's too little," the New York Democrat said at a press conference this week. "I can tell you this on reconciliation: One, we are going to all come together to get something done. And two, we'll have every part of the Biden plan in a big, bold, robust way."

Newsweek reached out to press representatives for Pelosi and Jayapal for comment but did not hear back before publication.