Nine House moderates, who are pushing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for an immediate vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, are quietly being advised by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz, Axios is reporting.
The news outlet attributed the information to lawmakers and aides.
It noted both Manchin and Sinema, who have held the most sway in their party over infrastructure talks, have been offering advice on how to negotiate with congressional leadership and the White House over the Senate-passed deal. Both senators have a longstanding relationships with some of the nine Democrat moderates.
The private advice being given by the two senators is said to be bolstering the nine lawmakers' resolve.
Last week, the nine sent a letter to Pelosi saying they won’t vote for their party’s $3.5 trillion budget resolution until she permits the chamber to vote on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan.
"We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law," the nine said in the letter to Pelosi, CNN reported.
The lawmakers' threat could jeopardize Pelosi's plans to push the budget resolution forward later this month, given that she can afford to lose just three votes from her caucus.
Axios noted that Manchin and Sinema’s support for the nine lawmakers demonstrates the priority the two moderates have given to getting the bipartisan infrastructure bill through Congress.
Politico reported Pelosi is losing patience with House centrists who are threatening to derail her plans.
"This is no time for amateur hour," Pelosi told her team on a private call Monday. "There is no way we can pass those bills unless we do so in the order that we originally planned."
Meanwhile, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., during a Monday interview on Fox News, said there are likely enough GOP lawmakers in the House ready to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill to compensate for any Democrats threatening to stop it.
The news network noted that Fitzpatrick said moderate Republicans would oppose the legislation passed by the Senate if Pelosi delays the bill or tries to tie it to the $3.5 trillion measure.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.