Ocasio-Cortez: 'More Than Enough' Votes to Prevent Infrastructure From Passing Without Reconciliation Bill

By Olafimihan Oshin, The Hill

01 August 21

ew York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) said on Sunday that there would be “more than enough” votes to prevent a bipartisan infrastructure bill from passing the House without a massive companion spending bill that Democrats hope to pass through reconciliation.

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Ocasio-Cortez told host Jake Tapper that if the Senate doesn’t pass the reconciliation bill, the House “will uphold our end of the bargain and not pass the bipartisan bill until we get all of these investments in."

“So, we really need to see that language and see what's put in there ... when it reaches the House,” Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper. “Bipartisan doesn't always mean that it's in the interests of the public good, frankly. Sometimes, there's a lot of corporate lobbyist giveaways in some of these bills.”

Ocasio-Cortez said "a very large amount of the Progressive Caucus" in the House would oppose the bipartisan infrastructure package without the reconciliation bill.

"The total amount is about 90. I am not the whip of the Progressive Caucus,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “But what I can tell you is that it's certainly more than three. And it is in the double digits, absolutely.”

“Enough to prevent it from passing?” Tapper asked.

“More than enough,” Ocasio-Cortez replied.

The progressive lawmaker also noted the "tight margin" in the Senate.

"I respect that we have to get Sen. Sinema and Manchin's vote on reconciliation," she said, referring to Senate Democrats Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are working to add the finishing touches to an infrastructure plan that would total over $1.2 trillion in an eight-year span.