Progressives say they’ll pass infrastructure and reconciliation: LIVE UPDATES
Progressives in the Democrat Party vowed Sunday that they will ultimately pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and contentious reconciliation package that has no Republican support.
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President Biden on Monday said that hardline tactics used by leftist protesters against Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., are inappropriate but to be expected in comments at the White House.
"I don't think they're appropriate tactics but it happens to everybody... the only people it doesn't happen to are people who have Secret Service standing around with them," Biden said. "It's a part of the process."
Sinema, who teaches at Arizona State University, was chased into a bathroom at the university on Sunday by protesters who said they were unable to get in touch with the senator through normal channels.
"Yesterday, several individuals disrupted my class at Arizona State University. After deceptively entering a locked, secure building, these individuals filmed and publicly posted videos of my students without their permission -- including footage taken of both my students and I using the restroom," Sinema said in a Monday statement.
"Yesterday's behavior was not legitimate protest. It is unacceptable for activist organizations to instruct their members to jeopardize themselves by engaging in unlawful activities such as gaining entry to closed university buildings, disrupting learning environments, and filming students in a restroom," she added.
Manchin, meanwhile, faced a group of protesters in kayaks outside of his house boat in Washington, D.C., for much of last week. He engaged with the protesters on Thursday and asked them to come in for a meeting, according to the Center for Popular Democracy Action.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., speaks with reporters after a meeting of the progressive House Democrats on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Progressives in the Democrat Party seemed to have taken a page out of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s playbook and vowed Sunday that they will eventually pass the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and the hotly contested reconciliation package that comes with no Republican support.
Just one week ago, Pelosi told ABC’s "This Week," that the House was going to pass the infrastructure bill. She said she never brings "bill to the floor that doesn’t have the votes."
The bill didn’t have the votes thanks to the progressive wing of the party—led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who demanded that the infrastructure legislation be tied with the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.
"Saturday Night Live" returned from its summer hiatus this weekend and wasted no time in mocking the Democrats’ infighting regarding the infrastructure bill.
The cold open of the show's 47th season also introduced new cast member James Austin Johnson in the role of President Biden. "How was everybody’s summer? Mine was bad!" Johnson as Biden shouted cheerily from a podium during a mock news conference.
"Not ‘Cuomo bad’ but definitely not ‘Afghanistan good.’ Everyone keeps razzing me about that drone strike – but on the bright side I went the whole summer without falling down the stairs once."
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