House Democrats face major divisions over infrastructure strategy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is signaling that she won't be backed into a corner next week by moderates in her caucus who are refusing to back a budget agreement unless the speaker first allows a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

It's the first warning sign of a growing rift among Capitol Hill Democrats that could threaten President Joe Biden's infrastructure agenda and reveal deep schisms within the party's ranks. But it's also just the beginning of a months-long effort to pass two major legislative packages that were always going to be a high-wire act for the President and his allies on Capitol Hill. Behind the scenes, the speaker is digging in, telling her leadership team Monday that she's committed to her same two-track strategy she's been touting all along. Pelosi has made clear for months that the House won't take up the bipartisan deal until the Senate has also passed a more sweeping social spending package through budget reconciliation, a plan that comes as progressives have vowed not to back the bipartisan bill on its own without the social spending package.