LIVE: Pelosi Holds Weekly News Conference in Washington, D.C.

(Apr. 8) Watch live as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a weekly press briefing on Thursday, April 8, 2021.

President Joe Biden is ramping up pressure on Republicans to support his $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan, appealing directly to GOP voters while lawmakers are in their home districts during the current congressional recess.

Biden will deliver his second major sales pitch in a week for the “American jobs plan” with a White House speech Wednesday, as he and his team reach out to governors, mayors and the broader public through phone calls, briefings and local TV appearances to make their case.

In addition to emphasizing the need for urgency, with the pandemic exposing weaknesses that left millions of families struggling, Biden in his Wednesday remarks will argue that infrastructure needs go far beyond just roads and bridges, a White House official said. Biden will also reiterate that his proposed investments, spanning broadband to an upgrade of the electrical grid, are key to successfully compete with China, the official said.

White House aides have said they want Congress to make significant progress on an infrastructure bill by Memorial Day. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio said Tuesday his panel aims to complete its part “probably” in the third week of May.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden will host lawmakers in the Oval Office to exchange views on the plan. But the White House is also prepared to use a budget measure called reconciliation that would allow Democrats -- as long as they stay unified in the 50-50 Senate -- to pass a bill without any Republican support.

Republican lawmakers have blasted Biden’s plan, calling it too large after his $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief bill and saying it would damage the economy with the proposed corporate-tax hikes to help fund it. The White House is hoping to make an end-run around that criticism through public appeals.

“We hope that Republicans can join their constituents across the country in supporting this effort,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “Ultimately, if that doesn’t happen, he is elected to do the job, to win the future for America, to invest in our people.”

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