( Breitbart )
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Thursday if Democrats do not pass a reconciliation spending packing that includes far-left provisions like money for fighting so-called climate change, she and other “progressives” will “tank” the Democrat infrastructure bill.
It is not clear if Ocasio-Cortez’s pledge is necessary given that, to date, no legislation has been introduced for either proposal.
It is also not clear that the infrastructure bill is bipartisan since no Republican has yet committed to unseen legislation.
Ocasio-Cortez also said it is necessary to use reconciliation to cram the spending package through the Senate without GOP support.
“House progressives are standing up,” Ocasio-Cortez said, according to a Bloomberg News report on a town hall she attended. “We will tank the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless we will also pass the reconciliation bill.”
Fox News also reported on the Senate’s strategy to get the legislation passed and sent to the president’s desk:
In a late-night announcement Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Budget Committee had reached an agreement to allot $3.5 trillion for the spending package that would complete President Biden’s infrastructure plan. “You add that to the $600 billion in a bipartisan plan and you get to $4.1 trillion, which is very, very close to what President Biden has asked us for,” Schumer said. “Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way.” Democrats plan to pass the bill using reconciliation, meaning they won’t need Republican votes and can bypass a potential filibuster, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can afford to lose only four Democratic votes, according to Bloomberg.
“This bill is absolutely a progressive victory,” AOC told NY1 in New York City. “If it wasn’t for progressives in the House, we probably would be stuck with that tiny, pathetic bipartisan bill alone.”
Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats want the reconciliation package to include massive government spending, free child care and community college, and an expansion of government health care programs.