Nancy Pelosi’s 19-year long career in leading Congressional Democrats is on the verge of disaster, as she failed to eliminate prevailing distrust in democratic factions.
For Pelosi, who is planning retirement after the current Congress, the passage of Biden’s agenda has emerged as a nightmare for the speaker.
The speaker termed the social spending bill of Biden as the culmination of her career in Congress, the failure of which can cost Democrats their House and Senate majority in next year’s mid-term elections.
Distrust Within Democrats is Hindering Biden’s Economic Agenda and Pelosi’s Legacy
The prevailing distrust among Democratic factions is more than ever today, and Republicans are happy about it.
This lack of trust has successfully killed the economic agenda of the President up until now, and is likely to continue doing so in the future as well.
The speaker, who pledged to pass the reconciliation and the infrastructure bill together by the end of September, is clueless now, which forced her to persuade progressives to vote for the infrastructure bill only.
Despite Pelosi’s assurance that she will get the reconciliation bill passed, progressives are not ready to vote in favor of the infrastructure bill alone.
All of this drama even attracted Biden to Capitol Hill, who rushed toward the legislature by canceling his trip to Chicago to bring the scattered factions together.
However, even the President failed to mend the factions within his party.
Both Pelosi and Biden are tilted a bit toward progressives, and they prefer to build their policies as per this caucus.
However, the rigidity of Senate moderates, particularly Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, known in combination as “Manchema,” blocked the overall agenda.
Manchema’s Plan Will Never be Supported by Progressives
Pelosi tried to pass at least one legislation from Congress then, which invoked Bernie Sanders, who successfully managed to lobby in the House through his power.
He advised House progressives not to vote for the infrastructure bill alone, advice which House progressives obeyed religiously.
Bernie Sanders has even scolded Machema for holding the Democratic agenda hostage, saying that the two senators should not be allowed to hinder the vision of 48 Senators and 210 House members.
The speaker is in limbo, and so is Biden’s economic agenda. Now, the Democratic leadership has set an end of October deadline to pass the distinctive agenda on which Democrats are counting on right now.
However, this is just the beginning of some bigger crises, as the internal divisions are only bound to escalate in the near future.
The Democrats are now buying time and doing nothing at all to bridge this ideological gap among its factions.
Joe Manchin is not ready to sign any social spending bill worth more than $1.5 trillion, and progressives are not accepting of it.
This is a reduction of more than fifty percent of the planned spending, which is not aligned with the Democratic ideology.
If progressives accept this measure, it would be political suicide for most of them as they wait for their elections next year.
The same is the case with moderates. This troubled faction is already considered vulnerable among Democrats whose reelections are at risk. If Republicans manage to clinch the congressional majority, it would be at the expense of moderates seats.
By halting Biden’s economic agenda, moderates are adding insult to injury for them, as they would have nothing to campaign on in their next elections.
However, both Manchin and Sinema will face reelection in 2024, which means that during his whole presidential tenure, Biden will have to face their resistance.
Final Thoughts
Manchema’s envisioned $1.5 trillion reconciliation bill is not likely to be backed by progressives at all. Will Senate moderates and House progressives e establish a middle ground, or will Biden’s agenda be killed once again in October? Only time will tell.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.