To pass budget, House Speaker Pelosi commits to finalizing infrastructure bill by Sept. 27

The House of Representatives approved a contentious $3.5 trillion budget bill via a rule vote on August 24.

This vote succeeded despite the breakaway of a group of moderate democrats from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's blitz to get the "Build Back Better" budget approved. Led by Representative Josh Gottheimer, those representatives sought to consider the infrastructure bill ahead of the budget. 

With Democrats holding a slim majority in the House, that faction could have been death to the rule vote. In late-night negotiations, Pelosi managed to get the rogue representatives back on board with today's rule vote by committing to a September 27 deadline to pass the infrastructure bill, which her office publicized today. 

The infrastructure bill has been the subject of an enormous wave of interest from the crypto community, primarily due to provisions it includes that could subject blockchain network participants to the status of "brokers" and, by extension, IRS reporting requirements. 

A rushed process on the Senate version of the infrastructure bill did not allow for typical voting on amendments. Last-ditch efforts to alter and expunge that reporting language died. 

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called back the House of Representatives from recess for votes yesterday and today, but the infrastructure bill seems unlikely to face consideration in the immediate future. Crypto advocates hope that interested lawmakers will have the chance to amend the House bill.