Vote on Biden’s twin spending bills delayed anew amid impasse

US president makes rare visit to Congress but gesture fails to convince Democrats to compromise on twin spending bills.

Democrats in the US Congress have withdrawn a planned vote on a $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill to transform the United States’s transport networks and broadband access, as lawmakers refused for a second day running to unite behind a twin spending bill estimated to be as much as $3.5 trillion.

Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the fractious House Democrats, pulled the vote late on Friday as congressional leaders arbitrated disputes among the party’s centrist and left wings in both the House and Senate. Pelosi had earlier postponed the vote on Thursday.

Democrats had been spending much of the week sparring about the size of a companion $3.5-trillion bill for social spending, stalling the vote on the more popular infrastructure bill.