House again delays vote on $1.2T infrastructure bill

Sept. 30 (UPI) -- The House will not vote on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Thursday, House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement.

Hoyer, D-Md., said lawmakers would depart for the evening after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier in the day insisted they would push ahead with a vote on the bill despite a lack of support from progressives.

"The House will remain in recess subject to the call of the Chair during this same legislative day of Sept. 30 and will reconvene no earlier than 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning," the statement read.

It added that House members were further advised that the chamber is expected to "complete consideration" of the infrastructure bill on Friday.

Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters during her weekly press conference that it was "our plan" to bring the bill to a vote on Thursday, a deadline she had set over the weekend to fulfill a promise to moderates to provide a vote on the measure.

"We're on a path to win. I don't want to even consider any options other than that," she said. "We go in it to win it."

Pelosi, who on Sunday said she was "never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes," spent the afternoon meeting with groups of both progressive and moderate members of the caucus.

The uncertainty comes as all 50 Democratic members of the Senate must support a second $3.5 trillion social benefits bill to pass it through the reconciliation process and avoid a filibuster, but Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have raised opposition.

Manchin on Thursday said his top-line spending number for that bill was $1.5 trillion.

In an attempt to sway progressives, who have said they will oppose the infrastructure bill unless it is passed along with a larger $3.5 trillion social benefits package, Pelosi told lawmakers to "remove all doubt" there will not be a reconciliation bill after a bipartisan vote Thursday.

"We will have a reconciliation bill. That is for sure," Pelosi said. "We are proceeding in a very positive way to bring up the bill, to bring up the 'BIF' [the bipartisan infrastructure bill], and to do so in a way that can win. And so far so good for today, it's going in a positive direction."

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said progressives remained in the "same place" on Thursday and would not vote to pass the infrastructure bill unless a deal was reached with Democratic senators to pass the social spending package.

"We will not be able to vote for the infrastructure bill until the reconciliation bill has passed," Jayapal told reporters after the meeting.

Amid the ongoing debate earlier in the day Hoyer, simply said "nope" when asked if he was confident the infrastructure bill would pass.