The White House is trying to pressure Republicans to give more ground in a coming counteroffer on a potential bipartisan infrastructure package after President Joe Biden unveiled a slightly less expensive counterproposal than his initial $2.3 trillion plan.
“The ball is in the Republicans’ court,” Psaki said on Monday. “Our reasonable counterproposal cut $550 billion from the president’s original proposal, including to some areas that were core priorities, continue to be core priorities, to the president investing in infrastructure.”
AWKWARD MOMENTS LOOM FOR MISTAKE-PRONE BIDEN AFTER PANDEMIC
The Republicans’ first counteroffer represented a $50 billion increase, so Biden’s concessions “went 10 times as far as theirs,” Psaki said during a briefing.
The White House is “eager” to receive another offer from Republicans as the administration confronts its self-imposed Memorial Day deadline for progress, according to Psaki. But she downplayed the role of West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican negotiator, in the talks, pointing to 500 contacts the White House has made with lawmakers and staffers regarding a “hard” infrastructure deal.
“It doesn’t take anything more than simple math to know that if we came down by $550 billion and they came up by $50 billion, they have a ways more to go,” she repeated.
Psaki last week outlined Biden’s compromise from his $2.3 trillion infrastructure-plus proposal. The counterproposal shifts suggested investments in research and development, supply chains, manufacturing, and small business to other bills, such as the Endless Frontier and CHIPS measures, she said at the time.
“The proposal also agreed to reduce the funding request for broadband to match the Republican offer and to reduce the proposed investment in roads, bridges, and major projects to come closer to the number proposed by the senators,” she added.
But Psaki noted that the $568 billion Republican plan did not put forward investments in clean energy, water quality, workforce training, and the so-called care economy.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Republicans’ first plan indicated $299 billion ought to be spent on roads and bridges, $61 billion on public transit, $20 billion on rail, $35 billion on water, and $65 billion on broadband. While the package was estimated to cost $568 billion, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said his conference could be prepared to go as high as $800 billion.
