Aug. 24, 2021: Pelosi underestimates the moderates

“How dare you?!” … “I’m pissed off!” … "Please, everybody vote for the damn thing.”

Those were just some of the choice phrases being thrown around in the House Dems’ caucus meeting Monday night as tensions over the budget standoff between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and moderate Democrats reached a boiling point.

The chamber broke shortly after midnight without any deal in place to advance the fiscal blueprint vital to passing President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.

Raghu Manavalan is the host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer for POLITICO Audio. 
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.