> Last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would vote on the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIB) by Sept. 30. But progressives have long feared losing leverage on the size and scope of President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) package, or losing the bill completely, if moderates had already pocketed their bipartisan achievement. In turn, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, repeatedly said enough of her caucus would vote as a bloc to deny passage of BIB so long as the larger, and not bipartisan, BBB had not yet cleared the Senate. By the end of week, with Biden echoing the progressives’ call for the two bills to proceed concurrently, Pelosi cancelled plans for a vote. > Having successfully executed a power play, Jayapal and her caucus have emerged with greater political capital. For example, I was one of those who regularly questioned whether Jayapal controlled as many votes as she said she did; while Jayapal often said more than half of her 95-member caucus would oppose BIB if it came to a vote before BBB, never did 48 House members go on record with that position. One could not breezily take Jayapal at her word because the Congressional Progressive Caucus has no track record of voting as a bloc to thwart the plans of Democratic Party leadership. Now, the caucus does. And their tactical threats going forward will have to be taken seriously.