US House set to vote on Biden’s massive infrastructure bills Friday

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on the mammoth $1.75 trillion social spending bill and the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on Friday, which form the bedrock of Biden's legislative agenda.

US House Democrats have failed to meet previous deadlines to clear the ambitious, big-budget bills, but top party leaders expressed confidence that the matter will be closed on Friday.

President Joe Biden on Thursday night persuaded Democrats in the House to vote on his social spending and climate-change bill, as the party reels from a barrage of unexpected losses in state elections.

According to reports, he held multiple calls with House Democrats throughout the day as the party leadership pushed to lock down the votes for the economic and climate package.

House Democratic leaders have had to delay the passage of bipartisan infrastructure bill, which was passed by the Senate in August, on two occasions previously.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also been reportedly working late hours to shore up votes for the bills. 

“We're going to pass both bills,” she said at a midday press briefing on Thursday. “But in order to do so, we have to have votes for both bills, and that's where we are."

Earlier in the day, in a closed-door meeting with party leaders, she said her plan was to vote on it that night and then move ahead on the bipartisan infrastructure bill Friday morning, media reports said.

Biden, a report in CNN said, has been clear that he has full confidence in Pelosi to determine the schedule and is aware nothing will be scheduled until the votes are locked in.

Many moderates have been seeking vote on the infrastructure bill for weeks, but progressives held that bill up over demands to move forward with the larger social safety net bill in tandem.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, was quoted as telling reporters that he is meeting with his staff to see if Democrats have the votes for the economic bill.

He said they wouldn't put a bill on the floor if it didn't have the votes, even though Pelosi has stopped short of confirming whether the party was in a position to muster enough support for the bills.

The economic agenda bill, referred to as the Build Back Better legislation, is a sweeping social safety net expansion plan that would address climate change, deliver aid for families, expand access to health care and enact other liberal agenda items. It would then be sent to the Senate for approval.

The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill has been held up previously as progressives insisted that the two measures move in tandem.

Almost half the size of Biden's initial $3.5 trillion package, the 2,135-page bill has won over most of the progressive Democratic lawmakers, even though it is still smaller than they wanted. Republicans, on the other hand, remain firmly opposed to it.

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