The White House did not shoot down the possibility of hosting additional meetings with Republican House members on President Joe Biden’s bipartisan, physical infrastructure package.
When asked about meetings with GOP lawmakers, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at Thursday’s briefing that there currently aren’t any such meetings on the books but expressed openness to the idea if Biden “needs the votes.”
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“We’re really deciding day by day on what can be most helpful and constructive to moving his agenda forward, which includes each of these pieces of legislation.” the top White House spokeswoman responded. “So right now, I don’t have anything on the books, but we’re, again, deciding day by day.”
Psaki’s comments come as the debate over both of Biden’s infrastructure proposals, the $1.2 trillion bipartisan deal and the $3.5 trillion human infrastructure budget reconciliation package, heat up on Capitol Hill.
While Democrats hold a large enough majority in the House to pass the bipartisan bill without Republican votes, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal promised that her caucus members would vote “no” should leadership schedule a final vote on the bipartisan legislation ahead of the reconciliation package.
“Try us,” she told CNN. “I don’t think that the speaker is going to bring a bill up that is going to fail.”
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You can watch Thursday’s entire briefing below.
