Progressive Rep. Jayapal pushes Biden to stick to $3T spending plan
Rep. Primila Jayapal says Biden's reconciliation compromise number is 'too low'
Former CBO Director on Democrats’ $3.5T reconciliation bill
Former CBO Director and American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin reacts to the House delaying the vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal said she is pushing President Biden to stick to his $3 trillion spending plan instead of the $2 trillion range that he has proposed to Democrats this week.
Jayapal, in an interview with the Associated Press, said she told the president that his suggestion for a lower figure was "too low" and said she would prefer to be "closer to three."
The president’s proposed spending plan, which includes expanded child care, health care, education funding and environmental programs, was $3.5 trillion. The president last week suggested cutting some of the funding back to a range between $1.9 trillion and $2.3 trillion.
Jaypal, D-Wash., though, said she isn’t "drawing any red lines" in negotiations but told the Associated Press "the president knows" progressive Democrats are pushing for a higher amount.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., participates in the news conference in the Capitol to outline the bipartisan agenda for "A Stronger Online Economy on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"I said it directly to him, I also said it to his top aides, and we’re going to continue to figure out where we can go," Jayapal said.
US ECONOMY ADDS 194K JOBS IN SEPTEMBER, BADLY MISSING ESTIMATES
She added: "We are fighting for something that will benefit the entire country."
Jayapal, reflecting on her past work as an organizer, told the Associated Press that she came to Congress "on a theory of change that if we really wanted to change politics so that they could work for working people, then we needed to be organizing on the inside."
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
She added: "And so that’s what I’ve tried to do."
Jayapal said she and her progressive Democratic caucus are "very, very strategic and coordinated" — something she thinks "helped us to become a force."
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
"It’s something we’ve been working towards for many years, over the last three years, and we’ve made incredible progress," she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.