Jeff Van Drew will be voting in favor of a hotly-debated federal infrastructure package which Democrat leaders reportedly plan to bring to the House floor sometime Thursday evening. That’s according to a source close to the South Jersey Congressman.
The House GOP leadership has whipped members against the bill, but Van Drew (R, NJ-2) is on record arguing that the infrastructure package and the $3.5 trillion Pelosi spending package are not “inextricably linked.” He plans to vote against the reconciliation bill if it ever sees the light of day.
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“One is hard, real infrastructure . . . the other bill is a huge spending boondoggle,” Van Drew told Forbes earlier this month.
Van Drew voted against a $2.9 trillion infrastructure plan earlier this year. The current proposal is less than half of the total cost but still large: $1.2 trillion.
The bill contains pork (inevitable for a package of this size). It also authorizes a pilot program to study a possible future mileage tax, easily the most widely-discussed feature.
What else is in the bill? $110 billion for roads and bridges, $73 billion for the power grid and $40 billion for transit among other spending items. Money for seaports, airports, and even dam safety also appear to have made the final cut.
Whether the speaker can wrangle enough support to get the infrastructure package through her chamber remains to be seen. The entire affair is a personal defeat of sort for the California Democrat who had originally insisted that a reconciliation vote would need to precede any action on infrastructure.
Sources tell me Pelosi still plans to hold the BIF vote, but still unclear if it will pass. Fueling this – a threat from Sinema to blow up reconciliation if BIF vote doesn’t happen – so we’re watching a game of chicken. Pelosi also expected to meet w/ caucus this afternoon
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) September 30, 2021
Kelly: "Roads, bridges, ports of entry in our state, water infrastructure. We're in this historic drought. We need more water storage, and desalinization projects…There's a lot that needs to be done in the state of Arizona… I recommend every member of the House to vote yes."
— Tyler Olson (@TylerOlson1791) September 30, 2021
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