Top Democrats will discuss infrastructure, coronavirus aid, and other proposals with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Friday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will huddle with Biden and Harris later on Friday, Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference.
It will be the first meeting for the group since Biden won the election, which President Trump continues to contest in court.
The Democrats will discuss the remaining weeks of the post-election lame-duck session in Congress as well as legislation planned for 2021.
Pelosi said she believes the $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill passed by House Democrats this year is “compatible” with Biden’s much broader “Build Back Better” agenda, which includes an infrastructure component.
“We’re pleased that the ‘Moving America Forward’ legislation that we passed in the summer, and ‘Build Back’ from Joe Biden are so compatible for creating good-paying jobs, including through investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, workforce development, clean energy. The list goes on and on,” Pelosi said.
Democrats face a daunting double runoff race in January for two Senate seats in GOP-leaning Georgia. Unless Democrats can flip the two seats, they will remain in the minority in the Senate, which will likely kill any chance of passing much of their agenda. Biden’s “Build Back Better,” for instance, calls for repealing part of the GOP’s tax cut legislation, which Republicans are all but certain to block in the Senate if they remain in control.
Pelosi said Democrats will also plot a path forward on a new round of coronavirus aid legislation, which has stalled for the past three months in Congress.
Democrats are seeking a plan that would cost at least $2.2 trillion and as much as $3.7 trillion. Republicans say they’ll only vote for a narrow measure with a $500 billion price tag.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is planning to meet Friday with House and Senate GOP leaders to discuss an aid package the party can agree upon.
Pelosi said she’s waiting to hear from Mnuchin.
“We want them to come back to us,” she said.
