Republicans Bail Out Biden and Pelosi to Pass $1.2 Trillion So-Called Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

Sean MoranNovember 6, 2021

Thirteen House Republicans voted to bail out President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) agenda and pass the $1.2 trillion so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The House voted to concur on the Senate amendment to H.R. 3684, or the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill, formerly known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The bill passed 228-206, featuring overwhelming Democrat support and some Republican support.

Thirteen House Republicans voted to bail out Pelosi and Biden’s agenda, giving them the majority in the House necessary to pass the bill.

Reps. John Katko (R-NY), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ), Fred Upton (R-MI), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Don Young (R-AK), Tom Reed (R-NY), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) reportedly voted yes on the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Goodness gracious — 13 Republican yes votes.

katko
bacon
van drew
young
upton
kinzinger
gonzales
reed
smith
garbarino
Malliatokis
Fitzpatrick

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 6, 2021

The House voted on the infrastructure bill after progressives struck an accord with moderates and Biden, in which both sides of the Democrat Party wanted assurance that they would vote for the other infrastructure bill.

Moderates pledged to vote for the Build Back Better Act once they receive a Congressional Budget Office (CBO score,”no later than the week of November 15:”

Here’s the statement from the mods. pic.twitter.com/I8MrCfnDsF

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 6, 2021

As part of the agreement, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), said in a statement that they will vote to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the rule for the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act.

Here’s the progressive statement.

im struck by the vote-by-nov.-15 stuff, considering these deadlines have been an absolute joke this year. pic.twitter.com/LHsOt7UEiU

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 6, 2021

Former President Donald Trump released a statement before the vote, saying that progressives are “being lied to and played” by moderate Democrats.

“So interesting to watch the so-called Democrat “Progressives” being lied to and played by the Democrat Moderates,” Trump said. “It used to be the other way around. Let’s see if the Progressives fold, and how long it will take them to do so?”

The so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill passed through the Senate with 19 Senate Republicans despite strong opposition from Senate conservatives.

Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) said in August that Republicans are “complicit” by supporting the bipartisan bill, as it would lead to the passage of the Democrats’ Build Back Better Act.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), has consistently rallied Republicans against supporting the bipartisan bill.

Since August, Banks has noted that the bill would not actually fund infrastructure, while it adds to the debt and is rotten with leftist carveouts:

The bipartisan infrastructure proposal floating around the Senate is essentially a Green New Deal Lite.

Check out the latest #RSC memo from Chairman @RepJimBanks explaining the top 10 reasons to vote no: pic.twitter.com/BgdtCI2Pp0

— RSC (@RepublicanStudy) August 2, 2021

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the bill would add $256 billion to the deficit, and the Penn-Wharton Budget Model said the bill would add no “significant” level of economic growth.

The bipartisan infrastructure would also advance leftist priorities by:

Defines “gender identity” as a protected class.
Doles out “digital equity” grants partly based on racial or ethnic minority status.
State-mandated carbon reduction program
Contains funding for “zero-emission vehicles”
Addresses “over-the-road bus tolling equity”
Contains the word “equity” 64 times
Provides roughly $2.5 billion to help the U.S. government expand the border processing stations used by migrants from poor Central American nations and other regions around the world.

Notably, the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill does not contain any sizable conservative victories.

The legislation calls for a study to review the potential impact of revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, even though it does not restore the job-creating project. The bill also has billions of dollars for border crossers and zero dollars for a border wall.

The bill now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to sign.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.