After being pummeled by progressives for continuing to pursue infrastructure talks with Republicans, the White House is now being offered what’s likely the best bipartisan deal it’s going to get
Rep. Ro Khanna said the Democratic base that got Biden elected expects him to do more than a narrow infrastructure bill focused on roads, bridges and broadband. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo.
“It is a tricky pathway regardless which way they choose,” David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, said of the decision before the White House. “They're trying to figure out how to square the circle here. I don't think they want to put their imprimatur on something before they do their due diligence with other elements of their own coalition.”
But Biden and his aides have largely refrained from pushing back on these criticisms publicly. Instead, top aides have been privately reassuring anxious Democrats that they are committed to pushing a reconciliation bill that would contain the other big parts of Biden’s jobs and family plans — including money for eldercare, early childhood and college education, childcare and those provisions addressing climate change.
"The White House team was grateful for the briefing from the Democratic Senators involved in the infrastructure negotiations, and found it productive and encouraging,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates. “They look forward to briefing the President tomorrow after his return to the White House, and continuing to consult with Senators and Representatives on the path forward."
As the White House engages the bipartisan negotiators, it’s also paying attention to the left wing of its party, whose lawmakers have grown more vocal in the past two weeks about fears that their priorities will be left out of the infrastructure proposals that would move through reconciliation or that the fall-back reconciliation bill may not have the votes to pass. The White House has not explicitly said how many votes it has to pass a Democrat-only package.
Rep. Ro Khanna said the Democratic base that got Biden elected expects him to do more than a narrow infrastructure bill focused on roads, bridges and broadband. And without clear decisions made about what will be included in a reconciliation package, a number of progressives could withhold votes on a bipartisan bill.
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