AOC says it will be ‘difficult’ for Democratic leaders ‘to get votes on anything moving forward’ if the Build Back Better Act doesn’t pass soon

AOC says it will be ‘difficult’ for Democratic leaders ‘to get votes on anything moving forward’ if the Build Back Better Act doesn’t pass soon

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview published on Sunday that Democrats need to pass quickly or progressives may not provide the votes for passage of other pieces of legislation. Speaking with The New York Times, Ocasio-Cortez, who the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill recently passed by the House, and who was deeply critical of the way in which the legislation was handled, said that a lot is riding on President Joe Biden's reconciliation bill being signed into law. "I think the stakes are really, really high," the New York Democrat said. "The entire reason that the Progressive Caucus gave their votes [for the infrastructure bill] was based on direct promises from the president, as well as direct promises from more conservative Democratic holdouts. And from House leadership as well." "So if those promises don't follow through, it's going to be very, very difficult for them to get votes on anything moving forward, because the trust that was already so delicate will have been broken," she told the newspaper. The House on Friday voted to advance the reconciliation bill, for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, but it still faces a vote in the evenly-split Senate. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin