Representative Pramila Jayapal voiced support for a White House-backed climate and social spending plan that costs less than $3.5 trillion on Sunday, but she flatly rejected Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposed $1.5 trillion price figure for the enormous legislative proposal. To pass its major priorities, Rep. Jayapal said the $1.5 trillion total proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin for Democrats’ reconciliation plan is too low.
Jayapal (D-Wash), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, made the remarks after her progressive associates successfully delayed a planned House vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill last Thursday in order to obtain additional commitments from their moderate colleagues on President Joe Biden’s spending plan.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) Interview With The Reporters On Capitol Hill (Photo: Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
House moderates, on the other hand, are pushing for an immediate vote on the infrastructure bill, which passed the Senate in August, and are attempting to divide it from Biden’s multitrillion spending plan. Democrats in Congress had originally set September 27 as the deadline for final passage of the infrastructure bill.
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Emboldening House moderates, Manchin (D-W.Va.) expressed new skepticism last Wednesday about the spending plan’s $3.5 trillion price tag, which Senate Democratic leadership and the White House agreed on this summer. According to POLITICO, Manchin proposed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in July a deal that would limit the total cost of the legislation to $1.5 trillion.
Manchin’s Proposed Amount Is Too Small
When asked if House progressives would support Manchin’s $1.5 trillion proposal, Jayapal said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday it was not going to happen. Manchin’s figure is too small to get major priorities accomplished, she adds, predicting the final cost of the spending package will be between 1.5 and 3.5 trillion dollars. She later discussed the past week of congressional debate over legislation presented by President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders to allocate around $3.5 trillion over the next ten years.
However, Jayapal provided few more information regarding the exact number that House progressives would eventually accept, instead emphasizing that the argument over the budget proposal has never been about the price tag. It all boils down to what they want to deliver.
Biden Warned The House Progressives
On a visit to Capitol Hill on Friday, Biden warned House progressives that they would have to accept a considerably reduced spending plan that may cost between $1.9 trillion and $2.3 trillion in total. According to POLITICO, Biden told the congressman he was the one who authorized the bill for which even the smallest can make historic investments in child care, day care, and sustainable energy.
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