The AP Interview: Jayapal pushes Biden for $3T spending bill

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By PADMANANDA RAMA and MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, says she has pushed President Joe Biden to hold the line and keep his ambitious social spending plan closer to $3 trillion instead of the $2 trillion range that he has floated to Democrats in recent days.

Jayapal told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that she had told Biden that his suggestion for compromise was “too low, and I said that I would really like to be closer to three.” The original amount for the package of Democratic initiatives, including expanded child care, health care, education and environmental programs, was $3.5 trillion.

The Washington state Democrat has emerged as a top negotiator in the talks on Capitol Hill, using the clout of her liberal caucus — and its nearly 100 members — to thwart a group of House moderates who demanded a vote last week on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

Biden tacitly endorsed the progressive caucus’s strategy last week, insisting that the spending package full of longtime Democratic priorities be linked to infrastructure. But he also floated trimming it back to a range between $1.9 trillion and $2.3 trillion, drawing pushback from Jayapal and others.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the nearly 100-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, talks to The Associated Press about her goals as a champion of human rights issues, and President Joe Biden's domestic agenda, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Now in her third term, Jayapal represents Washington's 7th District and is the first South Asian-American woman elected to the House of Representatives. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-eeae09b4577d27bbe5f82c8bba1af2fe