Democratic swing vote, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that she would not be staying in town through the August recess - as she already had vacation plans.
On Friday, Politico's Playbook cited several unnamed Senate sources reporting that the Arizona Democrat told the party leader that she would not be sticking around to vote.
That's problematic because Democrats need every single senator to get through a potential $3.5 trillion budget bill using reconciliation, and need to pass the bipartisan infrastructure deal.
Democratic swing vote, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that she would not be staying in town through the August recess, according to Politico's Playbook
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has floated keeping the Senate in session through a portion of August recess to get the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation bill through the upper chamber
Schumer has floated that he might push off the start of August recess to get the votes through.
Even before the vacation threat, Sinema has indicated she could derail the reconciliation bill.
On Wednesday she said she doesn't support the $3.5 trillion pricetag.
However on Thursday night, President Joe Biden said he believed Sinema would eventually vote for the package, which includes a number of 'human infrastructure' proposals the president has pitched.
'She's on board for passing if in fact she sees all the pieces of it. That’s why she allowed the budget to go forward,' Biden said.
During the same brief Q&A with reporters, Biden said he wanted to see an immigration proposal tucked into the legislation.
'I think we should include in reconciliation the immigration proposal,' Biden said. 'My staff is putting out a message right now,' the president added.
It will be up to the Senate parliamentarian to determine what can be included in the reconciliation bill, which can be passed by a majority vote, bypassing the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster.
Politico's Playbook also reported that Sinema is staying in Washington this weekend and skipping a ritzy wine retreat at Sonoma's MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa.
Sinema's office has yet to respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
At Friday's White House briefing, deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Sinema's vacation threat.
'Look, I know that this has come up and I just want to be really clear about this and what she actually said,' Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre then didn't directly address it.
'She is going to vote to proceed with the debate on the budget resolution. She expressed reservations about the top line, which she's been clearly clear about, and other senators have said the same,' she continued. 'But she's not standing in the way of moving this process forward.'
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