Jayapal exited the meeting accepting the totality of Biden’s message, telling reporters, “We’re gonna have to come down on our number.”

Pragmatists should salute Jayapal’s flexibility. She’s not willing to let the perfect become the enemy of the good. But it does make one wonder: What was the point of progressives trying to gain leverage by holding the bipartisan infrastructure bill hostage, if Manchin and Sinema are going to end up largely dictating the terms of the BBB package anyway?

The quest for leverage is not a zero-sum game. The enhancement of House progressive stature doesn’t change Senate math. In a narrowly divided House, with minimal bipartisanship, progressives can block bills they deem insufficiently ambitious. But that power doesn’t give them the ability to force Manchin and Sinema to pass their preferred bills in a narrowly divided Senate.