Chamber of Commerce caves to GOP over infrastructure bill after getting booted off strategy calls

Although the Republican Party and the Chamber of Commerce have long rallied behind the same pro-business interests, that relationship was strained recently when the GOP kicked the Chamber off of their strategy calls.

PunchBowl news reported earlier this morning that Republicans were hosting strategy calls on the bipartisan infrastructure package and negotiations and booted the Chamber. But this evening the story took a different turn.

According to Axios, the Chamber caved into the GOP, pulling its support of the infrastructure deal that Republicans in the Senate have already passed.

"The Chamber's chief policy officer, Neil Bradley, announced the policy shift in a letter to its Board of Directors on Monday," the report said. "The pretense for his decision: President Biden formally linking the 'hard' infrastructure bill with the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package during a meeting with House Democrats on Friday."

Republican House members have been whipping votes against the bipartisan bill, even if Senators like Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted to passed the bill. There are two bills, one is the bipartisan agreement between the two parties and the second is the human infrastructure bill that would help children, students, seniors and families. But House Republicans operate under the assumption that the two bills are one.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) called it "pure stupidity."

"It's not because of the policy," Cassidy said of the House GOP's opposition. He cited support from pro-business and conservative groups like the Chamber. "If you do it strictly on the merits, on the policy and the positive things it does for the United States of America, then you vote 'yes.' If you've got other considerations, aside from what's good… for America, then you vote 'no.'"

Chamber policy officer Neil Bradley claimed in a strategy memo that politics have nothing to do with the group's behavior. He wrote that it's because they no longer expect the bill to pass the House.

"The events of the last few days make it all the more crucial that everyone across the business community does everything in our power to ensure the reconciliation bill does not pass. While the Chamber believes that passing infrastructure as a stand-alone bill prior to consideration of the reconciliation bill would have enhanced our position, that is no longer a realistic possibility," Bradley wrote.

Read the full story at Axios.