President Joe Biden will try to bridge the gap between sparring groups of Democrats divided over the price tag for the social welfare and climate spending package far-left lawmakers insist on in exchange for supporting a bipartisan infrastructure bill.
At stake is the fate of a liberal spending package members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont want to cost up to $3.5 trillion, as well as the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure already passed by the Senate. More broadly, Biden’s agenda and political future are on the line, having won the White House in 2020 with a pledge to get results on Capitol Hill after 36 years as a senator from Delaware and eight as vice president.
“The President will travel to the Hill to speak with members of the House Democratic Caucus this afternoon,” according to White House guidance sent to reporters Friday.
BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS PREPARE FOR BLAME GAME AS LEGACY BILLS STALL
Biden has hosted a series of Oval Office meetings at the White House, but his trip up Pennsylvania Avenue was scheduled after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scrapped plans to hold a late-night Thursday vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal. Liberal Democrats have refused to support the bipartisan deal, which has already passed the Senate, without assurances that centrists will back the sprawling reconciliation bill.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki earlier this week downplayed speculation that Biden would leave the White House for Capitol Hill. Instead, Psaki touted the White House’s roughly 300 “engagements” with lawmakers and their staff.
“We go up there a lot,” she said. “I know people don’t focus on it all the time, but as anyone who knows our legislative team, many of you do, can attest, most of them came from Capitol Hill — a lot of them recently. They know these senators. They know these members. They know these offices. It’s a quick cab ride. Happy to do it, and not a big deal at all on our end.”
The status of negotiations remains unclear, with key centrist Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema already home in Phoenix on Friday for a medical appointment.
“Aren’t there phones?” Pelosi also told reporters.
Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a senior chief deputy whip, similarly scolded reporters for focusing on the apparent disorganization after many of her counterparts criticized Biden for not taking a more active role in negotiations.
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“If you want to write a story about Democrats in disarray, that is not the story,” she said.
