Decision Week for Infrastructure Arrives

Democrats hope to keep a fractious coalition together to pass a major piece of the Biden agenda this week, and keep the government from shutting down to boot.

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Good morning from Washington, D.C., where we’re on the lookout for flotillas of kayaks.

Moderates and progressives in the Democratic Party are on a collision course over President Joe Biden’s agenda this week. There’s a government shutdown deadline Thursday at midnight. And Congress faces a hugely important debt ceiling deadline in a few weeks. All in all, it’s the perfect moment for [airhorn noise] Haley to ease back into work after her maternity leave. 

House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern put it rather optimistically during a hearing yesterday: “As you all know, this is an interesting week,” he said. “Lots to do. Not sure how or when. But it will all work out. It will all be great.”

Once Again, It’s Infrastructure Week

Rep. Ilhan Omar and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to bring forward a bipartisan infrastructure package for floor consideration on Thursday, over the angst of progressives who fear it will undermine the odds of passing President Joe Biden’s not-yet-complete $3.5 trillion social investments bill. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    BIF. Ha. At first I assumed you made that up but Pelosi actually said that.

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    Richard Maxton

    Welcome back Haley!!

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    Dave Conant - MO

    Welcome back Haley, your impeccable timing proves again that "timing is everything." It appears from Ms. Jayapal's comment that the progressive Democratic clique is once again prepared to stiff the American people they claim to be working for by sacrificing the BIF which could already have been passed in the interest of possibly (however unlikely) getting a $3.5 billion dollar annual boost to a raft of ideas that most Americans don't really care much about. Makes sense because none of it will impact them as long as they stay in office and only a few members of that group are at serious risk. It also gives the Republicans a great excuse to avoid taking potentially unpopular positions on bills they know will be passed. In other words, business as usual in DC.

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    Victor Clairmont

    Hey welcome back Haley!

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  5. Nicco

    Those swaddles are the best! Congrats and welcome back!

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    John D. Wright

    Welcome back Haley! I was just thinking "why didn't they give us a baby picture" and there it was at the end. I'd have led with that but hey I'm not Steve Hayes. Good article.

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    Paul Britton

    A break room for nursing mothers . . . . I am all for motherhood and infants and making it all easier instead of harder for them, but I don’t quite understand how this would work. How many mothers have the jobs where their infants and toddlers can be there at work so they can nurse them during their breaks? Would this benefit any mothers other than those whose employers have day care on site?

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      Haley Byrd Wilt vertical-nib Author

      Ha, sorry for the confusion! These kinds of rooms are typically used for pumping breastmilk with machines while women are away from their babies, not feeding the baby in person

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  8. Kevin Brady

    Haley, don't feel too bad about the little one out-swaddling you - now on my 2nd kid, and I STILL haven't learned the fine art of swaddling. Those jailbirds get out every time..

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    The Bell Tower

    I would love to see some reporting around why Democrats and Republicans in Congress are treating each other like they have cooties.

    I get that they have opposing philosophies and agendas but it seems to me that, since probably Obama and his “I won” exclamation followed by the health care hamfisting that the R’s and D’s consider each other to be outright adversaries and that this is a departure from recent history.

    Why? Surely the Trumpy right and the BLM left demand ideological purity but why are our alleged leaders adhering to this junk rather than ….. oh, I don’t know …. leading?

    I guess I’m saying that I’m highly interested in more Dispatch interviews with members of congress where “why can’t we all just get along” is a focus of the questioning. “Why can’t you idiots grow up” is probably too caustic, though more accurate to my mind.

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    Sean

    Good Morning, Haley!

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