A small group of House progressives is attempting to use the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which they support, as leverage to force moderates to vote for their far more expansive human capital bill. A group of moderate House and Senate members, for their part, is trying to hold the human capital bill hostage to move the infrastructure bill forward.
The only beneficiaries of this dispute are the Republicans, who stand to gain politically if it appears that the government can’t get anything done. If Nancy Pelosi feels a bit like the sheriff facing down the mob in “Blazing Saddles,” you can understand it.