No Labels praises moderate Democrats threatening to derail budget resolution

No Labels, a group that advocates for bipartisan legislation, aired a national cable ad this week praising nine moderate House Democrats who are threatening to block their party’s $3.5 trillion budget resolution.
The ad is meant to give cover to the lawmakers as they push Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to immediately convene a vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate earlier this month.
“This unbreakable nine is showing America that we can still do amazing things,” the ad says, noting that the bipartisan bill invests in roads, bridges, rail, broadband and water.
The group of moderates, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), currently has enough votes to block Democrats’ budget resolution, which they plan to pass without Republican support. Their demand has outraged progressives, who have insisted that the bipartisan bill must be coupled with a party-line reconciliation package that addresses climate change, child care and other Democratic priorities.
Pelosi has pushed back on their request, and the White House said this week that it hopes every Democrat will vote for the budget resolution.
The moderates’ campaign comes as prominent business groups push lawmakers to swiftly pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Business lobbyists believe they will have more leverage to defeat proposed corporate tax hikes in Democrats’ reconciliation package if the bipartisan bill has already been signed into law.
Business groups are pointing to recent polling from No Labels revealing that 72 percent of voters in swing House districts support the bipartisan infrastructure plan, while 57 percent oppose spending a total of $4.7 billion between the two bills.
Axios, which first noted No Labels’s ad campaign Thursday, reported that Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) are privately “offering encouragement and advice” to the nine Democrats as they negotiate with Pelosi and the White House.
The moderate Democrats have noted that a wide swath of organizations support the bipartisan infrastructure bill, including the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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