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Biden Personally Negotiating Infrastructure Proposal With GOP, Psaki Says
Posted
June 7, 2021
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1:32Now PlayingAs President Joe Biden pushes ahead with sweeping plans to spend trillions of dollars on infrastructure and the U.S. social safety net, White House advisers are counting on his personal touch with Congress -- including chummy calls with lawmakers -- to win over skeptics in both parties.
He’s taken the lead in engaging with Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican negotiator on a bipartisan infrastructure package. But the hands-on lobbying is beginning to show its limits, as the White House on Friday rejected the latest GOP offer for being too small to address administration objectives. Biden’s pledge to keep talking -- with another call with Capito coming Monday -- is adding to pressure among Democrats to forgo the Republicans.
“If the president can accomplish his goals through bipartisan agreement, then more power to him,” said Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. “But time is perishable here. People have been willing to give them some time, but time is running out on their own schedule.”
Van Hollen speaks as someone who’s directly experienced Biden’s outreach. The president called him earlier this year after seeing him on TV promoting his agenda and wanted to thank Van Hollen for fighting for his administration. The call of thanks was so unexpected that Van Hollen said he didn’t immediately pick up the phone.
It’s in keeping with Biden’s longtime modus operandi. He’ll sometimes call lawmakers if he sees a news article or an op-ed that mentions them, and he’s phoned Republican friends in the past when they won tough primary elections. Lately, he’s been reaching out to centrist Democrats, like Senator Joe Manchin, to make sure they’re okay with policy details.
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