Terry McAuliffe, Virginia’s Democrat gubernatorial candidate, said Tuesday that the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending bill is “too high” — a stance that comes as infighting continues between moderate Democrats and far-left members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
“I think the three-point-five’s too high. Sure,” McAuliffe said, making the remark during Tuesday night’s gubernatorial debate.
“They got to stop their little chitty-chat up there, and it is time for them to pass it. Let’s get this infrastructure bill passed for America,” he added.
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (R) (D-VA) debates Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin hosted by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce September 28, 2021 in Alexandria, Virginia. (Win McNamee/Getty Images).
McAuliffe’s opinion comes as Democrats battle over the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which far-left Democrats have vowed to reject if the $3.5 trillion spending package does not accompany it.
“I will not be able to support that, and neither will the majority of our members. And let’s just be clear, we are ready to support that if people stick to the deal we originally made,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said Tuesday:
That was the deal coming out of the Senate. It’s why 12 Democratic senators…signed a letter recently saying that was the commitment they were given, is they vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and then we in the House finish the reconciliation bill with the Senate, agree on that package, pass that package, and then we would pass the infrastructure bill. So, this is too important to leave people behind. We are not going to do that.
Similarly, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also urged Democrats to block the infrastructure bill until Congress passes a strong reconciliation bill alongside it. A vote on the infrastructure bill alone, he warned, would cause Democrats to lose “all leverage that we have to pass a major reconciliation bill.”
The news comes as Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), specifically, express issues with the price tag of the reconciliation bill.
There are now rumblings that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will cancel Thursday’s scheduled vote on the infrastructure bill, as some suspect she does not have the votes to pass it.
