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The Guardian - US
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Maanvi Singh (now) and Joan E Greve (earlier)

House delays infrastructure bill vote as progressives dig in – as it happened

Pelosi said earlier that Democrats were ‘on a path to get this all done’.
Pelosi said earlier that Democrats were ‘on a path to get this all done’. Photograph: Tasos Katopodis/UPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Today's politics recap

  • Joe Biden unveiled his proposed framework for Democrats’ $1.75tn reconciliation package. The president’s proposal includes $400bn for establishing universal prekindergarten and expanding access to affordable childcare, as well as $555bn for initiatives aimed at combatting the climate crisis, among other provisions. Praising the framework in a White House speech, Biden said, “No one got everything they wanted, including me. But that’s what compromise is.”
  • However, it remains unclear whether the framework can attract the support of the two Democratic holdouts in the Senate, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. Sinema acknowledged that Democrats “have made significant progress” in their negotiations, but neither she nor Manchin have explicitly endorsed the framework. Biden will need all 50 Democratic senators on board to get the proposal passed.
  • The House delayed a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill following the framework’s release, following resistance from progressives. “Members of our Caucus will not vote for the infrastructure bill without the Build Back Better Act,” said Pramila Jayapal. “We will work immediately to finalize and pass both pieces of legislation through the House together.”
  • House Democrats released an updated version of the reconciliation bill, but the legislation is still expected to undergo significant revisions as negotiations continue to determine the specific details of the package.
  • Biden is now en route to Rome to kick off his week-long trip to Europe. As Democrats continue their negotiations, Biden will be overseas – meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican City, attending the G20 summit in Rome and participating in the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow. The White House has said the president will remain engaged in the negotiations while abroad.

– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh

Updated

In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Nancy Pelosi affirmed that the House would delay a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill:

She said:

As you know by now, the House will postpone the vote on the BIF. The good news is that most Members who were not prepared for a yes vote today have expressed their commitment to support the BIF. I thank the overwhelming number of House Democrats who support both the BIF and the Build Back Better Act. It is both heartening and impressive to observe the strength of Members’ engagement in the discussion.

Meanwhile, the House passed an extension of federal highway funding through 3 December, with a vote of 358-59. It is adjourned until Monday.

Updated

What’s in the $1.75tn reconciliation plan? Here’s a recap from my colleague Lauren Aratani:

The bill includes substantial investment in young children, specifically funding for childcare and early childhood education. Under the proposal, most American families will save more than half of their spending on childcare, with bolstered benefits to working and low-income parents. It also includes universal pre-school for children aged three and four.

A hallmark of the proposal’s climate mitigation plan is $555bn to reduce climate pollution and invest in clean energy. The proposal includes consumer rebates for Americans who invest in renewable energy, for example installing rooftop solar panels or buying an electric vehicle.

The bill also includes incentives to expand renewable energy in the domestic supply chain, an accelerator program that will fund sustainability projects and funding for restoration and conservation efforts.

The framework includes some provisions to bolster healthcare, including reducing healthcare premiums and tax credits to people who have been locked out of Medicaid because their state refused to expand Medicaid access. It will also include investments in affordable housing and an extension of the child tax credit.

House to vote on highway funding patch

The House is returning from recess now to vote on an extension of federal highway funding.

The bill would extend funding until 3 December– it is currently set to expire on 31 October. Members are likely to revisit the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package next week, with negotiations still underway.

Updated

Andrew Cuomo has been accused of forcible touching in a criminal complaint

Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor, has been accused of forcible touching in a criminal complaint filed with a court in Albany.

The complaint charges that Cuomo “intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly place his hand under the blouse shirt of the victim and onto her intimate body part.” It also said that Cuomo touched the victim “for the purposes of degrading and gratifying his sexual desires, all contrary to the provisions of the statute.”

The complaint did not name the victim.

Cuomo has also been publicly accused of groping Brittany Commisso, a former aide.

There was some confusion about the complaint after the Times Union of Albany reported that the complaint was issued “prematurely” based on interviews with unnamed officials.


Updated

Progressives say no to standalone infrastructure vote

The Congressional Progressive Caucus is maintaining that members will not vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless the reconciliation advances as well.

“Members of our Caucus will not vote for the infrastructure bill without the Build Back Better Act,” said Pramila Jayapal. “We will work immediately to finalize and pass both pieces of legislation through the House together.”

Congress needs to “bring both bills to a vote together. This cannot be accomplished without legislative text that can be fully assessed and agreed upon by all parties, including 218 Representatives and all 50 senators” the caucus asserted.

It remains unclear whether Biden’s new, whittled down $1.75tn reconciliation package will get the support of moderate holdouts Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.

Updated

Today so far

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Joe Biden unveiled his proposed framework for Democrats’ $1.75tn reconciliation package. The president’s proposal includes $400bn for establishing universal prekindergarten and expanding access to affordable childcare, as well as $555bn for initiatives aimed at combatting the climate crisis, among other provisions. Praising the framework in a White House speech, Biden said, “No one got everything they wanted, including me. But that’s what compromise is.”
  • However, it remains unclear whether the framework can attract the support of the two Democratic holdouts in the Senate, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. Sinema acknowledged that Democrats “have made significant progress” in their negotiations, but neither she nor Manchin have explicitly endorsed the framework. Biden will need all 50 Democratic senators on board to get the proposal passed.
  • House speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing for a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill following the framework’s release, but progressives are still withholding their support. During her weekly press conference, Pelosi insisted Democrats are “on a path to get this all done,” but progressive congresswoman Cori Bush said at least a dozen members will not support the infrastructure bill until the reconciliation package advances as well.
  • House Democrats released an updated version of the reconciliation bill, but the legislation is still expected to undergo significant revisions as negotiations continue to determine the specific details of the package.
  • Biden is now en route to Rome to kick off his week-long trip to Europe. As Democrats continue their negotiations, Biden will be overseas -- meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican City, attending the G20 summit in Rome and participating in the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow. The White House has said the president will remain engaged in the negotiations while abroad.

Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

And true to form, Senator Kyrsten Sinema would not answer reporters’ questions about her stance on Joe Biden’s reconciliation bill framework as she left the Capitol.

Sinema, one of the two Democratic holdouts in the Senate, has consistently avoided taking questions from the media throughout the negotiations on the reconciliation package.

In her statement earlier today, the Arizona senator said, “After months of productive, good-faith negotiations with President Biden and the White House, we have made significant progress on the proposed budget reconciliation package.

“I look forward to getting this done, expanding economic opportunities and helping everyday families get ahead.”

Senator Joe Manchin is still being somewhat vague about his stance on Joe Biden’s framework for Democrats’ reconciliation package.

Manchin, who demanded significant cuts to the original $3.5tn proposal, was asked about the current $1.75tn price tag as he left the Capitol this afternoon.

“That was negotiated,” Manchin told reporters.

The other Democratic holdout in the Senate, Kyrsten Sinema, released a statement earlier today saying that “significant progress” has been made in the negotiations, but she also would not explicitly endorse the framework.

House progressives have indicated they are unwilling to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill until they feel more confident that Sinema and Manchin will support the reconciliation package.

A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi denied that the House speaker was kicked out of the Congressional Progressive Caucus meeting on the reconciliation package.

Pelosi joined the CPC meeting earlier today, after Joe Biden unveiled his framework for Democrats’ $1.75tn reconciliation bill.

As Biden announced the framework, Pelosi urged House Democrats to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill, but progressives insist they want both proposals to advance simultaneously.

Regarding Pelosi’s presence at the meeting, a Democratic staffer told the newsletter the Uprising, “She got kicked out and said she was leaving anyway.”

But according to Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill, that is not an accurate representation of the meeting.

“This is false. The Speaker dropped by the CPC to listen but had to leave for an event honoring former Rep. Nita Lowey at the Library of Congress. She was in the room for approx 12 minutes,” Hammill said on Twitter.

The Biden administration has said a vast spending bill is set to result in the “largest effort to combat climate change in American history”, with hundreds of billions of dollars set to be funneled into supporting clean energy, electric vehicles and new defenses against extreme weather events. But some key parts of Joe Biden’s original plan were left out.

Following negotiations with Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, two centrist Democratic senators who have opposed large portions of the original Build Back Better bill, the White House said it was confident a reduced version of the legislation will be able to pass both houses of Congress and will “set the United States on course to meet its climate goals”.

This proposed framework includes $555bn in incentives, investments and tax credits aimed at bolstering the deployment of renewable energy such as solar and wind, as well as a tax break that will deliver up to $12,500 to people who buy an electric car.

The bill will help deploy new electric buses and trucks, build community resilience to disastrous wildfires and floods and employ 300,000 people in a new “civilian climate corps”.

The new framework does not include fees paid by oil and gas producers when they emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Manchin was also opposed to this fee in the original bill and rejected a proposal to include a tax or price on carbon emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency is, however, poised to regulate methane emissions through its existing powers.

These omissions mean that the legislation’s framework represents a historic investment in clean energy but doesn’t include any mechanisms to reduce fossil fuel usage or even cut subsidies flowing to the oil, coal and gas companies that have caused the climate crisis.

Updated

As House progressives reaffirm their position that they will not support a standalone vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, centrist Democrats are pushing for a vote.

“It’s time to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill & show governance can work again,” said congresswoman Suzan DelBene, the chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition.

She added, “We remain fully committed to getting a transformative Build Back Better Act across the finish line ASAP.”

But given Democrats’ extremely narrow majority in the House, progressives have the votes to block the infrastructure bill until the reconciliation package advances.

Cori Bush: More than a dozen House progressives oppose standalone infrastructure vote

Cori Bush said more than a dozen members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus will vote “no” on the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless there is simultaneous progress on the reconciliation package.

“If it’s by itself, if it’s a standalone, absolutely, I’m 100% a no,” the Missouri congresswoman told MSNBC.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing for a vote on the infrastructure bill today, but Bush said “at least more than a dozen” CPC members are unwilling to take action on the legislation until they are confident the Senate will pass the reconciliation package.

“And this is not against the president at all,” Bush said. “What we’re saying is, we don’t trust the people that have the actual vote.”

That appeared to be a reference to Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have still not explicitly said they will support the reconciliation bill framework announced by Joe Biden this morning.

A few provisions that some Democrats were heavily advocating for were left out of Joe Biden’s framework for the $1.75tn reconciliation package.

Most notably, the proposal does not include 12 weeks of paid family leave. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the primary holdout for the provision. Manchin has indicated that he believes a reconciliation bill – which would require only the support of Democrats in the Senate – is “not the place” for “a major policy”.

Significant expansions to healthcare were cut out of the framework, including provisions to have Medicaid cover dental and vision costs, a plan to expand Medicaid to Americans in states that have refused to expand it themselves under the Affordable Care Act, and a proposal to empower Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices.

Biden’s plan for free tuition at community colleges was also left out.

The framework notably does not include the “billionaire tax” that was floated by some Democrats on Wednesday before it was swiftly killed by centrist holdouts.

Some progressive senators, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have expressed support for House progressives’ demand that the reconciliation package and the bipartisan infrastructure bill advance at the same time.

“I support @RepJayapal and House Progressives—both infrastructure and #BuildBackBetter move together,” Warren said on Twitter, referring to Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal.

The infrastructure bill has already passed the Senate, but House progressives have withheld their support from the legislation until the reconciliation package advances.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is now pushing progressives to support the infrastructure bill based off Joe Biden’s confidence that his framework for the reconciliation package will win approval in the Senate.

But Jayapal has indicated that the president’s assurances will not be enough for her members to vote “yes” on the infrastructure bill.

'We're on a path to get this all done,' Pelosi says as she pushes for infrastructure vote

House speaker Nancy Pelosi held a press conference this afternoon, as Democrats work to advance Joe Biden’s framework for the reconciliation package, as well as the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Pelosi is looking to hold a vote on the infrastructure bill today, but House progressives say they want to see the text of the reconciliation package before supporting the infrastructure bill.

Shortly before Pelosi began speaking, the House rules committee released an updated version of the reconciliation bill, which runs more than 1,600 pages long.

“For those who said, ‘I want to see text,’ the text is there for you to review, for you to complain about,” Pelosi told reporters. “We’re on the path to get this all done.”

However, it’s unclear whether the updated text will be sufficient for progressives, given that the bill will likely undergo many more changes as Democrats work out the specific details of the legislation.

Updated

Democrats release updated text of reconciliation bill ahead of rules committee hearing

House Democrats have released an updated version of the text of their reconciliation package, in line with Joe Biden’s newly announced framework for the $1.75tn bill.

The updated version runs more than 1,600 pages long and can be read here.

It’s important to note that this is almost certainly not the final version of the bill, as Democrats will continue to update the text as they continue their negotiations over the specific details of the package.

The House rules committee is scheduled to meet in about 30 minutes to discuss the bill. Stay tuned.

Oil company executives testify on climate change before House oversight committee

The heads of four major companies appeared before Congress on Thursday over accusations their firms have spent years covering up the impact of burning fossil fuels on the climate crisis. To kick off the hearing, Rep Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House oversight committee, accused the companies of hiding documents.

“We asked each of these companies for documents six weeks ago, but they have not come close to producing the key internal documents about climate change and the money trail we asked for. So let me be clear, we are at the beginning of this investigation,” she said.

The executives testifying remotely by video re Darren Woods of Exxon, David Lawler of BP America, Michael Wirth of Chevron and the president of Shell, Gretchen Watkins. The leaders of two powerful lobby groups accused of acting as front organisations for big oil, the American Petroleum Institute and the US Chamber of Commerce, will also testify.

In her opening remarks, Maloney accused the oil companies of paying lip service to addressing the climate emergency with a public relations campaign while lobbying to oppose measure to address the crisis.

“They’ve spent billions of dollars on PR firms to paint themselves as climate champions. But big oil’s actions tell a different story,” she said. “Today, the committee is releasing a new staff analysis showing that over the past 10 years, these four companies have dedicated nearly only a very tiny fraction of their immense lobbying resources to enact the policies they publicly claim are key to address climate change, while spending ten of millions to protect their profits from oil and gas.”

The highest-ranking Republican on the committee, Rep James Comer, responded by not speaking to the issue at hand, but instead by questioning the legitimacy of the investigation. He said it would be better spending its time probing Joe Biden’s handling of inflation, illegal immigration and the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Prominent Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have spoken out in favor of Joe Biden’s framework for his social and environmental spending bill framework.

“In a country as large and diverse as ours, progress can often feel frustrating and slow, with small victories accompanied by frequent setbacks,” wrote Obama on Twitter. “But once in a while, it’s still possible to take a giant leap forward. That’s what the Build Back Better framework represents.”

In a statement, Obama pointed to investments on child care, pre-school, clean energy and healthcare as strong signs of progress.

While it “doesn’t contain everything that the president proposed and some had hoped, … the good news is that it represents the best chance we’ve had in years to build on the progress we made during my administration and address some of the most urgent challenges of our time.”

Meanwhile, in a short statement on Twitter, Clinton similarly praised the framework as a sign of progress.

“The president’s Build Back Better framework would be transformative for families and the middle class as a whole,” Clinton wrote. “It includes the largest investments in children and caregiving in generations.”

Some people are never satisfied. Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema might have been expected to dance a jig when Joe Biden announced a pared down $1.75 trillion reconciliation package with no billionaire tax, no paid family leave and no expansion of Medicare to cover dental or vision.

Instead both Manchin and Sinema offered cryptically milquetoast remarks welcoming the framework, implying that the president forged ahead without getting them to sign off on it, and raising the spectre that they could demand yet more cuts.

Manchin, senator for West Virginia, reportedly said: “This is all in the hands of the House right now. I’ve worked in good faith and I look forward to continuing to work in good faith and that is all I have to say today.” Sinema, from Arizona, said “we have made significant progress” and “I look forward to getting this done”.

For Biden today’s departure to Europe, and especially Cop26, was a natural cutoff point to draw a line in the sand with a definitive sum. He is daring conservatives such as Manchin and Sinema, and progressives such as Bernie Sanders, to accept the compromise rather than carry on fighting and potentially sink the party.

But Manchin and Sinema’s lukewarm words are likely to fuel progressive fears that, despite the White House’s assurances, the pair are not “negotiating in good faith” but rather serving corporate masters. If and when they achieve their goal of passing a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, the pair have given themselves enough wiggle room to say the Build Back Better plan requires further tweaks.

Judd Legum, author of the Popular Information newsletter, tweeted: “I think the strategy here is to pretend Sinema and Manchin have agreed to this and hope it gets enough momentum that they won’t sink it. Big gamble.”

Biden leaves for Europe without answering questions about reconciliation bill

Joe Biden is now on Air Force One, en route from Washington to Rome to kick off his week-long trip to Europe.

The president did not take any questions from reporters about his framework for Democrats’ $1.75tn reconciliation package as he boarded AF1.

It remains very unclear whether the framework can attract the support of all 50 Democratic senators, and House progressives are unwilling to support the infrastructure bill until they have seen the text of the reconciliation package.

As Democrats continue their negotiations, Biden will be overseas -- meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican City, attending the G20 summit in Rome and participating in the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow.

Biden will not return to Washington until next Wednesday, but the White House has said he will remain engaged in the negotiations while abroad.

Today so far

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Joe Biden unveiled his proposed framework for Democrats’ $1.75tn reconciliation package. The president’s proposal includes $400bn for establishing universal prekindergarten and expanding access to affordable childcare, as well as $555bn for initiatives aimed at combatting the climate crisis, among other provisions. Praising the framework in a White House speech, Biden said, “No one got everything they wanted, including me. But that’s what compromise is.”
  • However, it remains unclear whether the framework can attract the support of the two Democratic holdouts in the Senate, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. Sinema acknowledged that Democrats “have made significant progress” in their negotiations, but neither she nor Manchin explicitly endorsed the framework. Biden will need all 50 Democratic senators on board to get the proposal passed.
  • House speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to get the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed today, but progressives insist they must first see the text of the reconciliation package. House majority leader Steny Hoyer has alerted members that there may be a vote today on the infrastructure bill, but Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal has said she and her members remain opposed to passing the proposal until the reconciliation bill text is released.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is hoping progressives will vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill today, now that Joe Biden has released his framework for the reconciliation package.

But progressives say they want to see the text of the reconciliation bill before moving forward on the infrastructure proposal, and the bill text is unlikely to be finalized today.

Emerging from the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ meeting on Capitol Hill, Rashida Tlaib was asked whether she would support moving forward on the bipartisan infrastructure framework (BIF) today.

“Hell no on BIF,” Talib said, per the LA Times. (As a reminder, Pelosi can only afford to lose three votes and still pass the bill.)

I’m in the east room where Joe Biden was speaking from the presidential lectern with the vice-president, Kamala Harris, standing a short distance behind.

And if I turn my head, I can see where the first lady, Jill Biden, was sitting a short distance behind me. There were around 30 reporters here.

The US president is rolling the dice here before he flies off to Europe, gambling that a $1.75tn reconciliation framework will be the least worst option for Democrats to unite around. He’s insisting that the glass is half full: investments in the child tax credit, addressing the climate crisis as never before, and much more.

Biden ran for office touting his Senate pedigree and his ability to bring the party’s warring factions together. “No one got everything they wanted, including me, but that’s what compromise is,” he said. “Compromise and consensus is the only way to get things done in a democracy.”

It remains to be seen if enough Democrats will embrace that message. Let’s hope he’s more successful than his predecessor at the art of the deal.

Updated

Joe Biden argued that the policies included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the framework of the reconciliation package represented the demands of the voters who put him in office.

“The agenda that’s in these bills is what 81 million Americans voted for,” Biden said. “Their voices deserve to be heard, not denied, or worse ignored.”

The president then concluded his prepared remarks without taking any questions from reporters about whether the reconciliation bill framework can pass the Senate.

“I’ll see you in Italy and in Scotland,” the president told reporters as he departed.

Biden is now off to Europe for a week to meet Pope Francis, attend the G20 summit in Rome and participate in the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow.

So far, Joe Biden has used his White House speech to reiterate the need to pass the reconciliation package and invest in childcare, healthcare and climate initiatives.

“Somewhere along the way, we stopped investing in ourselves,” Biden said. “We can’t be competitive in the 21st century global economy if we continue this slide.”

But the president has not offered any details on how he will get the bill passed, when the two Democratic holdouts in the Senate have still not indicated whether they will support the bill.

Stay tuned.

Joe Biden argued his framework for Democrats’ reconciliation package would ensure that the US is able to adequately compete in the global economy.

“This is about competitiveness versus complacency,” the president said at the White House. “It’s about leading the world or letting the world pass us by.”

But again, it remains unclear whether the centrist holdouts in the Senate, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, will support the $1.75tn bill that Biden has outlined.

Biden touts 'historic economic framework,' despite concerns about path forward

Joe Biden is now delivering remarks at the White House on his framework for Democrats’ $1.75tn reconciliation package.

The president celebrated the “historic economic framework” that he released this morning, after months of negotiations with Democratic lawmakers.

“No one got everything they wanted, including me,” Biden said. “But that’s what compromise is.”

However, even as Biden appeared to be taking a bit of a victory lap, it remains unclear whether the framework can attract the support of all 50 Democratic senators.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi has now joined the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ meeting to discuss Joe Biden’s framework for the reconciliation package.

Pelosi is urging progressives to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill today, but CPC chair Pramila Jayapal has already indicated her members want to see the text of the reconciliation package before doing so.

And Biden is set to deliver remarks on the framework at any moment. Stay tuned.

Sinema issues supportive but vague statement on reconciliation framework

Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema has issued a supportive statement on Joe Biden’s reconciliation bill framework, but the centrist holdout does not explicitly say she would vote in favor of the proposal.

“After months of productive, good-faith negotiations with President Biden and the White House, we have made significant progress on the proposed budget reconciliation package,” the Arizona senator said.

“I look forward to getting this done, expanding economic opportunities and helping everyday families get ahead.”

The other centrist holdout in the Senate, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, also declined to explicitly endorse Biden’s framework, per Politico.

The reconciliation bill is far smaller than Joe Biden initially envisioned, and it remains unclear if progressives will support the plan.

Leaving the meeting, congressional progressive caucus chair Pramila Jayapal said she wanted to see the legislative text before committing to the bill.

After Biden spoke, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her caucus to prepare to vote on a smaller infrastructure bill on Thursday. Progressives have been withholding their support for the bill as a way to maintain leverage over Biden’s larger spending plan.

“When the president gets off that plane we want him to have a vote of confidence from this Congress,” she told her factious caucus, adding: ”In order for us to have success, we must succeed today.”

This framework will get 50 Senate votes, Biden tells House Democrats

Joe Biden rallied House Democrats behind a proposed $1.75tn framework deal that he said could win the support of every Democrat in the Senate and prove to the world that American democracy can deliver.

“I am back here to tell you that we have a framework that will get 50 votes in the United States Senate,” he told House Democrats during a morning caucus meeting, according to a source familiar.

After joking that he came to sample the buffet, Biden sharpened his pitch. He said the country was at an “inflection point.”

“The rest of the world wonders whether we can function,” he said, pointing to the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol and a “Republican Party that stands for nothing.”

“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week,” he said.

He then asked directly for their support.

“I need you to help me,” he said. “I need your votes.” Some members began chanting “Vote, Vote, vote.”

Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal said she was impressed by Joe Biden’s presentation this morning in his meeting with House Democrats on the framework of the reconciliation package.

However, Jayapal said it was still unclear whether centrist Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema would support this framework.

“He said he’s confident he can get the votes,” Jayapal told reporters after the meeting with the president.

“It wasn’t clear whether the two senators have committed to vote for it, so you know look, I think it’s a bit of a leap of faith in the president.”

The progressive congresswoman reiterated the importance of seeing the text of the reconciliation package before moving forward.

“The first step is we’ve got to see the legislation,” Jayapal said. “If it’s true that there’s 90% of the legislation that’s written, then we should be able to get the other 10% written in the next couple of days, and then we can all take a look.”

House majority leader Steny Hoyer has alerted members that the chamber may vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill today, but progressives have indicated they want to see the reconciliation package text before supporting the infrastructure bill.

Joe Biden has now left Capitol Hill, after meeting with House Democrats to discuss his framework for the $1.75tn reconciliation package.

“I think we’re going to be in good shape,” the president told reporters as House speaker Nancy Pelosi guided him out of the Capitol.

But whether the progress on the reconciliation package will be enough to get the infrastructure bill passed today remains unclear. Stay tuned.

Hoyer sets up possible vote today on infrastructure bill, amid progressive criticism

House majority leader Steny Hoyer has alerted members that the chamber may vote on the infrastructure bill today, but that remains highly uncertain.

“Today, the House meets at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business,” the latest House floor schedule update reads.

“Members are advised that votes are expected today. Additionally, the House may consider the Senate Amendment to H.R. 3684 – Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”

However, House progressives are still insisting they want to see the text of the reconciliation package before supporting the infrastructure bill, which will almost certainly not happen today.

And House progressives have the votes to prevent the infrastructure bill from passing.

Updated

Progressives want to see reconciliation package text before supporting infrastructure bill

Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal reiterated that she and her members want to see the text of the reconciliation package before supporting the infrastructure bill.

“We will deliver both the infrastructure package and the Build Back Better Act to people across America — but we can’t do that if we don’t even have a bill,” the Washington congresswoman said on Twitter.

“We won’t risk leaving working families and our communities behind.”

Speaking to reporters this morning before House Democrats’ meeting with Joe Biden, Jayapal said that progressives will need reassurances about centrist Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema supporting the president’s framework of the reconciliation package.

“Yes, I mean that has to be a part of it,” Jayapal said. “He’s our president. If he says he’s gotten those assurances, I don’t know if I can get everyone to that place, but I think we would have to trust him at that point -- but not without passing the two bills out of the House.”

Updated

The White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, praised the framework of the reconciliation package as a historic investment in early education and climate initiatives.

“It’s twice as big, in real dollars, as the New Deal was,” Klain said on Twitter.

“This can be the Congress that goes from 12 years of universal education to 14 years; the makes the largest investment in fighting climate change ever; that cuts what families pay for child care in half.”

One big question to consider this morning: will the framework released by Joe Biden be enough for House progressives to feel comfortable moving forward with the bipartisan infrastructure bill?

House progressives have withheld their support from the infrastructure bill for weeks because they have insisted that the reconciliation package must advance at the same time.

Some progressives have reiterated this week that they do not want to vote for the infrastructure bill until they at least see the text of the reconciliation package.

Biden is meeting with House Democrats this morning, and they will likely discuss the timing of a vote on the infrastructure bill.

Joe Biden’s framework for the reconciliation package calls for the bill to be funded through a series of new taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

The president is calling for a 15% corporate minimum tax on large companies and a 1% surcharge on corporate stock buybacks.

If enacted, the reconciliation bill would also place a new surtax on multi-millionaires and billionaires and invest in IRS enforcement.

Democrats had initially been looking at raising tax rates on large corporations and wealthy Americans to help pay for the bill, but centrist Senator Kyrsten Sinema expressed criticism of those proposals.

The framework of the reconciliation bill released by the White House includes an expansion of Medicare to cover hearing care.

But Senate budget committee chairman Bernie Sanders has demanded that the bill also expand Medicare to include dental and vision coverage, which is not mentioned in the framework.

Furthermore, Sanders has insisted that the reconciliation package take meaningful steps to lower the prices of prescription drugs.

The framework indicates the bill would repeal a Trump administration rule that may have negatively impacted drug prices, but there does not appear to be any other mention of the issue.

It’s unclear whether this framework would be sufficient to attract the support of Sanders and other progressives who have said those issues are top priorities for them.

When asked this morning whether Sanders supports the framework, Joe Biden told reporters, “Everybody’s on board.”

Biden releases framework for spending package as he prepares to leave for Europe

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Joe Biden has just released a $1.75tn framework for Democrats’ reconciliation package, a massive spending package that includes significant investments in climate initiatives, healthcare programs and childcare access.

According to the framework just released by the White House, the president is calling for $400bn to be spent on establishing universal preschool for all three- and four-year-olds and expanding access to affordable childcare.

Another $555bn would be invested in combatting the climate crisis, including clean energy tax credits, extreme weather response efforts and incentives to spur new domestic supply chains.

As previously reported, the framework does not include any mention of paid family and medical leave, a key policy that was cut from the bill to keep it at an acceptable price tag for centrist Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

Biden has just arrived on Capitol Hill to sell this framework to Democratic lawmakers, but he has limited time to do so. He is scheduled to leave for Europe in just a few hours.

The blog will have more details on the framework coming up, so stay tuned.

Updated

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