House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reportedly believes the presidency is “Senate oriented.”
Speaking to the Democratic caucus on Friday, Pelosi reportedly said, “I hope many of you will one day run for president of the United States.”
“I have always said a House member needs to win, so it is not as Senate oriented,” she added.
.@SpeakerPelosi told the Democratic caucus, per two sources: “I hope many of you will one day run for president of the United States. I have always said a House member needs to win so it is not as Senate oriented.”
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 1, 2021
President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama were both elected to the Senate prior to their White House bids.
Pelosi’s comments come as lawmakers are still trying to bridge a divide between moderates and progressives around a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package and a separate $3.5 trillion spending bill.
While the Senate has passed the infrastructure bill, the House has not taken up either piece of legislation.
Progressives have demanded that Congress pass the larger spending package, and have threatened to sink the infrastructure bill unless the two pieces of legislation are both passed.
While Democrats in the House can pass legislation with a simple majority, the math is more complicated in the Senate, where most legislation requires 60 votes. The upper chamber is currently divided 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.
Senate Democrats are hoping to use a process known as budget reconciliation that would let them pass the spending bill with just 51 votes, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. The Senate is divided 50-50, which means all 50 Democrats would have to vote for the legislation for it to pass.
However, Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have both expressed opposition to voting for a bill that has a $3.5 trillion price tag.
“I can’t support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March,” Manchin said in a statement on Wednesday. Additionally, he called the spending in the bill “the definition of fiscal insanity.”
And in a statement on Thursday, Sinema reiterated her opposition to a $3.5 trillion package.
Without either of their votes, the legislation would not pass the Senate.