Deal today? Pelosi tells lawmakers spending accord could come Tuesday

 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told fellow lawmakers she could finalize an agreement on a $1.75 trillion social welfare spending package that has stalled for weeks.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, confirmed the latest deadline to reporters as she left a closed-door meeting with fellow Democrats.

“I’m not announcing a vote, but I did say that this could be resolved by the end of the day,” Pelosi said.

Democrats are scrambling to reach an accord on a spending framework that satisfies liberals enough to win their votes on a separate $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

Pelosi was forced to scuttle a vote last week on the infrastructure measure after liberals demanded a more concrete agreement on the social welfare spending package, and some are demanding a back-to-back vote to pass both bills together.

The California Democrat did not tell reporters how she planned to resolve some major outstanding issues on the social welfare spending package that includes climate change policies, a provision to negotiate Medicare prescription drug prices, and a plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.

In a press call following the closed-door meeting, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Democrats “are very close to reaching an agreement” on the bill.

“I’m hopeful it will be done this week in the House,” the Maryland Democrat said.

The House is scheduled to leave town for a week beginning Friday, and Hoyer suggested lawmakers could remain in session if more time is needed to complete consideration of the package. “We will see what the next few days bring us and make a determination at that time what we are doing next week,” he said.

House Democrats are pushing for a vote this week despite an announcement Monday by Senate Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who said he would not commit to voting for the social welfare spending package until he can review the legislative text.

Manchin, a centrist, accused Democrats of playing “shell games” with the cost estimates of the latest deal, which he has already forced to cut in half from the $3.5 trillion package Democrats initially hoped to pass.

Pelosi will have to wrangle her liberal faction into passing the infrastructure bill despite warnings from Manchin that he may hold up the measure in the evenly divided Senate, where all 50 Democrats are needed in order to pass the legislation.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York told reporters after the closed-door meeting Tuesday that the House will need “an ironclad commitment” from all 50 Senate Democrats that they will vote for the social welfare spending bill in order to secure the House vote on the infrastructure legislation.

“I think that's been an understanding as we proceeded from the very beginning,” Jeffries said. “President Biden has laid that out. Speaker Pelosi has laid that out.”

The Senate passed the infrastructure bill last summer in a bipartisan vote, and President Joe Biden has been eager to sign it into law in order to declare a much-needed legislative victory.

Manchin on Monday demanded House Democrats take up and pass the infrastructure bill so that it can quickly become law.

The infrastructure package would pay for roads, bridges, water projects, and expanded broadband, as well as new electric vehicle charging stations. House Democrats have refused to vote for it, withholding their support in a bid to push the Senate into passing the social welfare spending bill.

Manchin warned Democrats that tactic won’t work.

“Holding this vote hostage is not going to work in getting my support” for the social welfare spending package, he said.

Deal today? Pelosi tells lawmakers spending accord could come Tuesday | Washington Examiner