Pelosi’s decision came after hours of intense negotiations, including a call with President Joe Biden and a crush of meetings and calls with members of the House Democratic caucus.
Liberal Democrats were confident this week that they had the numbers to block the bill, which would spend hundreds of billions of dollars upgrading roads, bridges, transit, rail, broadband, airports, ports and waterways.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders told CNN that the infrastructure deal should be “defeated” and railed against Pelosi’s late-night deal-making effort.
“It is an absurd way to do business, to be negotiating a multi-trillion dollar bill a few minutes before a major vote with virtually nobody knowing what’s going on,” Sanders said. “That’s unacceptable. And I think what has got to happen is that tonight, the bipartisan infrastructure bill must be defeated. And we can sit down and work out a way to pass both pieces of legislation.”
With a split Senate and a slim hold on the House, Democrats are leveraging their power to make sure their colleagues support their bills, which comprise Biden’s domestic agenda.
Progressives say they’ll withhold their support on the bipartisan infrastructure package until moderates strike a deal with them on the Build Back Better Act. Washington state Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the Congressional Progressive Caucus chairwoman, told CNN she was not worried that her liberal colleagues would break ranks.
“I have never seen our caucus so strong,” said Jayapal. “And I’m a very good vote counter, also, maybe not quite as good as Nancy Pelosi sometimes, but I’m excellent.”
But at least a dozen House Republicans are expected to vote for the roads and bridges bill, allowing Pelosi to lose some members on her left flank.
One source told CNN that Pelosi had success Thursday flipping some Democrats into the “yes” column.
“The number (of no votes) is coming down,” the source said.
New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, touted that he and Pelosi were both whipping Democrats on the floor.
“She’s doing it,” he said. “It’s the Pelosi magic.”
This story has been updated with additional developments Thursday.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Ryan Nobles, Jessica Dean, Lauren Fox, Annie Grayer and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.