Moderate Dems demand quick passage of infrastructure bill

Moderate House Democrats say they'll sink a crucial fiscal blueprint outlining $3.5 trillion in social and environment spending unless a separate infrastructure bill is approved first

WASHINGTON -- Moderate House Democrats say they would sink a crucial fiscal blueprint outlining $3.5 trillion in social and environment spending unless a separate infrastructure bill is approved first, a new complication for the divided party's drive to enact President Joe Biden's domestic agenda. The centrists' threat directly defies House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announced plans, and she is initially showing no signs of backing down. It also completes a two-sided squeeze on the California Democrat, who has received similar pressure from her party's progressives. Democrats can only pass legislation in the narrowly divided House if they lose no more than three votes. Solid Republican opposition seems certain. “We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law,” nine centrists wrote in a letter to Pelosi obtained Friday by The Associated Press.