Pelosi prioritizes bipartisan infrastructure deal, leaving progressives on an island

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reversed course Monday night, telling Democrats that passage of the bipartisan infrastructure can’t wait for the larger reconciliation/social safety net package, NBC’s Leigh Ann Caldwell and Sahil Kapur report.

"I told all of you that we wouldn't go on to the [infrastructure bill until] we had the reconciliation bill passed by the Senate. We were right on schedule to do all of that, until 10 days ago, a week ago, when I heard the news that this number had to come down," Pelosi said in a private caucus meeting, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

"It all changed, so our approach had to change.”

So now we have two questions after Pelosi’s reversal.

One, will progressives still work to defeat it when it comes up for a vote on Thursday?

“I think that we are still very clear we need to get the reconciliation bill done,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last night. “It can't be just a framework, because we need to make sure that this delay that leads to death of these things does not happen.”

And two, why did it take so long to get here to delink one bill (infrastructure) that had already passed the Senate with another bill (reconciliation) where Democrats still haven’t settled on a price tag?

As it turns out, the entire process of progressives demanding that the two bills be linked — with the Biden White House either in agreement or standing on the sidelines — has helped tarnish what would be a significant legislative achievement.

The kind of bipartisan bill that Biden campaigned on, and one that finally delivered on infrastructure after failed promises during the Trump presidency.

“[T]his historic investment in infrastructure is what I believe you, the American people, want — what you’ve been asking for for a long, long time,” Biden said last month after the Senate passed it. “This bill shows that we can work together.”

Biden, however, stopped touting the bipartisan infrastructure bill when it became apparent many in the party had their eyes on the more ambitious reconciliation package.

So what happens on Thursday? Do House Democrats, who can’t afford more than a handful of defections, pass the bill?

And if it does pass, is there elation at the White House? Relief? Or disappointment?

Republicans block bill to avert government shutdown, debt default

Staying with the activity on Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans on Monday night blocked the Democratic bill that temporarily funds the government and raises the debt limit.

“The Senate voted 48 to 50 on the procedural motion, with Republicans opposing the stopgap measure because it included an extension of a debt ceiling. Republicans said they were unwilling to support the debt limit increase and are demanding that Democrats take the political heat for the vote,” NBC’s Teaganne Finn and Sahil Kapur write.

More: “All Republicans voted in opposition and Democrats supported the measure, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer switching his vote to ‘no’ in a procedural move that allows him to call for another vote on the measure.”

If anything underscores our political dysfunction, it’s Republicans filibustering this legislation to raise the debt limit, and the GOP (likely) failing to pay any political price for it.

There is no Democratic debt or Republican debt. It’s America’s debt.

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Data Download: The numbers you need to know today

$11.4 billion: How much Ford will spend on two new electric vehicle and battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.

7: How many more times the heat waves a child born in 2021 will live through compared to their grandparents, a new study on the impacts of climate change suggests.

$54 billion: The dollar value of announced bank mergers and acquisitions so far this year, the highest in more than a decade.

9: How many days it took NBC News’ tally of U.S. Covid cases to rise from 42 million to 43 million (it took seven days between 41 and 42 million).

43,156,213: The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 192,713 more since yesterday morning.)

694,642: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News. (That’s 2,505 more since yesterday morning.)

390,664,923: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S., per the CDC. (That’s 550,595 more since yesterday morning.)

55.4 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per the CDC.

66.6 percent: The share of all U.S. adults at least 18 years of age who are fully vaccinated, per CDC

Virginia is for debaters

It’s Debate Night in Virginia’s gubernatorial contest, with Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe facing off against Republican Glenn Youngkin beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Va.

The hourlong debate — hosted by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce — will be moderated by NBC’s Chuck Todd, and the panelists are Julie Carey of NBC4 Washington and Alberto Pimineta.

This is the second McAuliffe-vs.-Youngkin debate, but the first one take place in vote-rich Northern Virginia.

ICYMI: What else is happening in the world

Pfizer is officially seeking authorization for its Covid shot to be given to children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old.

The Biden administration plans to modify the DACA program to protect it after a federal court order blocked new applicants.

Top U.S. general warned the Taliban during an in-person meeting to stay out of Kabul until the withdrawal finished, a warning the Taliban ignored when they moved on the Afghan capital the next day.

The Washington Post obtained a pre-release copy of the new book by former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

Arizona’s public school mask mandate ban has been blocked by a judge shortly before it was to go into effect.