Joe Biden has cancelled plans to travel to Delaware this evening as the Democratic standoff over the infrastructure vote continues. The president called into the ongoing hours-long meeting of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, CNN reports, in an effort to push the bill forward and resolve the dispute between a handful of moderate Democrats and progressives. New panels tasked with taking redistricting out of partisan control have had a shaky start, reports my colleague Sam Levine. Greta Harris had enough. The 16-person panel she was co-chairing was on the verge of a meltdown after months of trying to draw new boundaries for districts in the Virginia state legislature. The deadline for submitting maps had arrived but there was no plan. The panel was tasked with redrawing political districts, a task that lawmakers across the US undertake every 10 years. In recent years, there’s been a growing alarm at how politicians have taken advantage of that process, distorting district lines to essentially choose the voters they represent and locking in their re-election and party control of certain seats. There’s now a broader recognition of how the practice, called gerrymandering, can essentially rig elections in favor of one party. Ten years ago, Republicans launched an unprecedented effort to gerrymander to their advantage. In the 2010 election, they targeted under-the-radar races in state legislatures with the goal of taking control of those bodies to control the redistricting process. The effort, called Project REDMAP, was remarkably successful. Republicans used their newfound majorities in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to draw district lines that would lock Democrats out of power for years to come. In some places, Republicans weren’t subtle about what they were trying to do. In Michigan, A Republican aide bragged about cramming “Dem garbage” into certain districts. This year, Harris’s panel, comprising eight lawmakers and eight citizens and evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, was supposed to help prevent that kind of distortion from happening. But by the beginning of October, things were so bad that the commission couldn’t even agree on how they should start drawing the maps. Trump justice department official refuses to answer questions from 6 January panel A former Trump justice department official declined to testify before the 6 January congressional committee on Friday. In a letter sent to congressional investigators, a lawyer for Jeffrey Clark, who assisted Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, defended Clark and his refusal to cooperate with the investigation. “Mr Clark had nothing to do with the January 6 protests or the incursion of some into the Capitol,” the letter states. Clark plans to hold off on testifying until after the resolution of Trump’s lawsuit seeking to block the release of documents related to the US Capitol attack. The chair of the 6 January committee told Politico that the panel would consider voting to hold Clark in contempt of Congress. The panel previously approved a contempt of Congress citation for Steve Bannon for his refusal to testify before the committee. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has reportedly told Joe Biden she won’t support the vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill tonight and that the bill and the reconciliation package should pass together. Progressive congresswoman Cori Bush has also indicated she won’t support the bill until the reconciliation package advances. “Conservative Democrats are trying to tell my community that we should just shut up and accept a half deal,” Bush said. It could be a long night in the House of Representatives as Nancy Pelosi moves ahead with plans to hold the final vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The California Congressman John Garamendi said Pelosi would keep the House in session all night if necessary. The fight over the infrastructure vote plan is dividing Democrats. The House speaker had originally hoped to pass both the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package today, but six centrist Democrats were opposed to passing the reconciliation package without an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. Meanwhile, progressives insist both must be approved at the same time. Hi all, Dani Anguiano here taking over the US politics blog for the rest of the day. It’s been a chaotic day in Washington with the fight over the bipartisan infrastructure bill and reconciliation package dividing Democrats. As noted by my colleague Joan E Greve, Nancy Pelosi has indicated she will move ahead with plans to hold the final vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill today, even though progressives have long said they won’t support the proposal until the reconciliation package is also approved. Joe Biden reportedly called Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, this afternoon. According to CNN, about 20 progressive Democrats plan to vote down the infrastructure bill tonight. Today so far That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Dani Anguiano, will take over the blog for the next few hours. Here’s where the day stands so far: The House is moving forward with a final vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had originally hoped to pass both the infrastructure bill and Democrats’ reconciliation package today, but a handful of centrists objected to passing the reconciliation package without an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. So instead, Pelosi is trying to pass the infrastructure bill and the rule to begin debate on the reconciliation package. But it remains unclear whether Pelosi has the votes to pass the infrastructure bill, as progressives are insisting the reconciliation package must be approved at the same time. The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal, said in a statement, “[I]f our six colleagues still want to wait for a CBO score, we would agree to give them that time — after which point we can vote on both bills together.” Joe Biden called on the House to pass the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package “right now”. “I’m asking every House member, member of the House of Representatives to vote ‘yes’ on both these bills right now,” Biden said in his morning remarks on the October jobs report. Biden celebrated the strong jobs report, which showed the US economy added 531,000 jobs last month. In his speech, the president credited his administration’s vaccination policies and the passage of the coronavirus relief package with reinvigorating the economy. “Today is another great day for our economic recovery,” Biden said. “America is getting back to work. Our economy is starting to work for more Americans.” The president and the first lady attended the funeral of former secretary of state Colin Powell at Washington national cathedral. Powell, who was the first African American to serve as US secretary of state, died last month at the age of 84. Dani will have more coming up, so stay tuned. Pelosi pushes forward with infrastructure vote despite progressive criticism House speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated she is pushing forward with plans to hold the final vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill today, even as progressives criticize the strategy. “We had hoped to be able to bring both bills to the floor today. Some members want more clarification or validation of numbers that have been put forth,” Pelosi said. “And we honor that request.” A handful of centrist Democrats are insisting they must see the analysis from the Congressional Budget Office before supporting the reconciliation package, and that report won’t be ready for at least another couple of weeks. Pelosi voiced confidence that the CBO analysis will be completed “before Thanksgiving,” at which point House Democrats will hypothetically be able to pass the reconciliation package. The speaker also thanked the Congressional Black Caucus for proposing the “creative alternative” of voting today on the infrastructure bill, as well as the rule for the reconciliation package. But it is still unclear whether Pelosi has the votes to pass the infrastructure bill, as progressives are insisting the two proposals must be approved at the same time. Stay tuned. House majority leader Steny Hoyer would not provide any clarity about whether he expected the bipartisan infrastructure bill to pass today, amid criticism from progressives. “We’re working on it,” Hoyer said as he left speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office moments ago, per Politico. As of now, it is looking less and less likely that House Democrats will be able to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill or the reconciliation package today. A handful of Democratic centrists are insisting they must see the analysis from the Congressional Budget Office before passing the reconciliation package, and that report is not expected for another couple of weeks. So House speaker Nancy Pelosi called for a vote today on the final passage of the infrastructure bill, even though progressives have said for months that they will not support the proposal until the reconciliation package is approved as well. Unless something changes in the next couple of hours, House leaders don’t have the votes to pass either bill. Stay tuned. Progressive congresswoman Cori Bush has also made clear that she will not support the bipartisan infrastructure bill until the reconciliation package advances as well. “There’s no phone call I could get or nothing that could be offered to me that will change my mind,” Bush said, per Bloomberg. At least three progressives have already indicated they will not support the bipartisan infrastructure bill today, and that is enough to block the proposal’s passage (unless some Republicans vote “yes”). Congresswoman Ilhan Omar retweeted a message from congressman Jared Huffman saying the infrastructure bill would not pass without the reconciliation package being approved as well. And congresswoman Rashida Tlaib also criticized the vote plan, noting the infrastructure bill would lead to an increase in carbon emissions while the reconciliation package has more than $500bn in funds for climate initiatives. House progressives raise objections to planned vote on infrastructure bill House progressives are making it clear (once again) that they will not support the bipartisan infrastructure bill until the reconciliation package advances as well. House speaker Nancy Pelosi has told members that they will vote today on the rule for the reconciliation package and the final passage of the infrastructure bill. But in a new statement, Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, made clear that her members would not go forward with such a plan. “As we’ve consistently said, there are dozens of our members who want to vote both bills — the Build Back Better Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — out of the House together,” Jayapal said. “We now understand that there are six Democratic members who want to have a formal CBO score on Build Back Better before voting.” Jayapal pointed to the report from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation and analyses from the White House to argue that the reconciliation package “will contribute to reducing the deficit”. She added, “However, if our six colleagues still want to wait for a CBO score, we would agree to give them that time — after which point we can vote on both bills together.” House majority leader Steny Hoyer confirmed that the chamber will now begin one hour of debate on the rule for the reconciliation package. After that debate has concluded, the House plans to vote on both the rule and the final passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The votes are expected to start in about an hour, according to the guidance from Hoyer’s office. Meanwhile, the vote has finally closed on the Republican motion to adjourn the chamber. House speaker Nancy Pelosi kept the vote open for more than seven hours as she tried to convince members of her caucus to advance the reconciliation package. By a vote of 207 to 219, the motion to adjourn was rejected, as expected. The delay made this the longest vote in House history. House will hold final vote on bipartisan infrastructure bill today, Pelosi confirms House speaker Nancy Pelosi has just confirmed that the chamber will vote today on the rule for Democrats’ reconciliation package and the final passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. “In order to make progress on the President’s vision, it is important that we advance the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and the Build Back Better Act today,” Pelosi said in a “Dear colleague” letter. “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework rule and debate have already happened. Now, we will bring to the Floor the BIF and a rule for consideration of the Build Back Better Act.” But it remains unclear whether House progressives will go along with this plan. They have repeatedly made clear that they will not support the infrastructure bill until the reconciliation package advances as well. And as of now, it is unclear when the House may give final approval to the reconciliation package, as some centrists are insisting they must see the analysis from the Congressional Budget Office before supporting the bill. That report may not be available for weeks.