Politics

Progressives Threaten Infrastructure After Voting Rights Bill Dies In The Senate

(Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Sebastian Hughes Politics Reporter
Font Size:

Some progressives angered by the For the People Act being filibustered in the Senate, and what they see as an insufficient push by President Joe Biden to get the bill passed, have threatened to withhold their votes on any infrastructure legislation, according to CNN.

“I can’t imagine having a vote in the House on an infrastructure bill, before resolving the issue of whether we will continue to have a democracy,” freshman Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones of New York told CNN.

“I think it’s demonstrably clear that (Biden) hasn’t done a lot. This is someone who has all the resources available to him as the most powerful person in the world to rally members of his own party to at least make an exception to the filibuster for purposes of saving our democracy,” Jones said. “And instead, the media and the work of a number of senators has been focused on a bipartisan infrastructure package.”

Fellow New York progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman told CNN’s John King that House progressives were “100%” ready to use the power of their votes in the House if the Senate continues to steamroll progressive agenda items. “We are prepared to say it, we are prepared to do it. We are in conversations like this as we speak because enough is enough.”

Education Secretary Cardona Visits Mercy College In The Bronx

U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

On infrastructure specifically, Bowman said, “This is a time for us to be visionary and bold and lead as a Democratic Party. So, if we’re going smaller on infrastructure, you cannot guarantee that I will vote for an infrastructure package that goes smaller.”

He went on to criticize Biden’s lack of presence in the process. “He’s not absent, but he needs to be a lot more vocal and a lot more out front,” Bowman said.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pushed back against that characterization, telling CNN, “Those words are a fight against the wrong opponent.” She went on to list several of Biden’s efforts, including meeting with key senators like Manchin and nominating Department of Justice officials who will favor voting rights.

“I would say that’s hardly being silent. That’s hardly sitting on the back bench, and we are — he will be standing with advocates in this fight for the foreseeable future,” Psaki said. (RELATED: Governor Vetoes Funding For Texas Legislature After Showdown Over Voting Reform)

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who is also the House Progressive Caucus Chairwoman, downplayed the idea progressives would torpedo the infrastructure deal because of voting rights legislation.

“In this business, as you know you, it’s difficult sometimes to tie totally disparate issues to each other,” she told CNN. “Each of these issues has different concerns associated with them, so we’re not tying the two together, but clearly you see the patience running out of many people, not just progressives, but people across the country who want to see movement and haven’t been seeing movement.”

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel