WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – President Biden continues his West Coast swing today, trying to drum up public support for his spending priorities.
Back in Washington, congressional Democrats are hammering out the details about those plans and trying to figure out how to get them through a divided congress.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats know they’ll face stiff Republican opposition to their spending priorities. But first, they have to get all their own members on board.
Democrats are under the gun to meet self-imposed deadlines to pass a trillion-dollar infrastructure improvement bill and a much bigger tax reform and spending plan.
President Biden said, “I know I get criticized for trying to get bipartisan support, but we got it, for legislation I wrote relating to the whole idea of infrastructure, it’s real.”
One “no” vote in the Senate could kill the whole thing.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said, “We got a lot of negotiations to do over the next couple of weeks. And I’m optimistic we’re going to get them done.”
For Democrat West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, the $3.5 trillion tax bill price tag is a non-starter. “They shouldn’t be surprised, they’ve known. Everybody knows where I’ve been,” he said.
The legislative posturing is happening as President Biden makes his first official trip to the West Coast, touring areas decimated by wildfires and stumping for California Governor Gavin Newsom, who faces a recall election Tuesday.
Back in Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will face another tough round of questions about the Biden administration’s handling of Afghanistan…
House Republicans slammed the Afghanistan withdrawal Monday and called for Blinken to resign.
The president will travel to Colorado later Tuesday, where he will tout both of his proposed spending plans at the national renewable energy laboratory.
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