Infrastructure vote delayed while leaders hash out deal

A vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill was delayed late Thursday night as leaders on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue continue to hash out a deal on President Biden's larger reconciliation package.

Why it matters: Pelosi had promised centrist Democrats she would bring the Senate-passed measure to the floor today, and spent hours negotiating with members in order to fulfill her pledge.

But progressive Democrats stayed firm in their threat to sink the vote without a detailed commitment between the House, Senate and White House that Biden's reconciliation package would also pass.

They insisted the deal include a top-line number that holdouts like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) would sign off on.

The latest: After hours of closed-door talks, the vote was delayed around 10:45 p.m. while congressional leaders and senior White House staff continued to finalize a deal that would satisfy all members of the party.

What they're saying: Manchin, leaving the Capitol just before 10 p.m., told reporters: "I don’t see a deal tonight." He reiterated he his preferred price-tag for the reconciliation bill is $1.5 trillion, far lower than the $3.5 trillion members were initially working with.

"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. That's unacceptable," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who stayed late Thursday to help work on negotiations, told reporters shortly before Pelosi announced the formal delay.