President Joe Biden will lay out the first part of his multi trillion-dollar economic recovery package this week, focusing on rebuilding roads, bridges, and other infrastructure projects, followed by a separate plan later in April addressing child and health care.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki elaborated on the administration’s plans during Monday’s press briefing, having confirmed on Sunday the plan to split the package into two legislative proposals, part of an effort to get support from congressional Republicans.
“This Wednesday, the president will be laying out the first of two equally critical packages to rebuild our economy and create better paying jobs for American workers,” Psaki told reporters at the White House on Monday. “He’ll talk this week about investments we need to make in domestic manufacturing, R&D, the caregiving economy, and infrastructure.
“In the coming weeks, the president will lay out his vision for a separate package that focuses squarely on creating economic security for the middle class through investments in childcare, healthcare, education, and other areas,” she added.
While the White House has not yet released specific funding requests for Biden’s two-part plan, reports from The Washington Post, The Associated Press and The New York Times suggest the administration’s proposed legislation may include a combined $3 trillion in spending to boost the economy and improve quality of life.
That massive number may scare off some Republicans due to wariness over a pricey package so soon after passage of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan.
Psaki said Monday that Biden already has a “plan to pay” for the two packages, confirming that the “entirety” of the infrastructure proposal unveiled Wednesday will have “pay-fors,” or a specific funding source for each program.
“The president has a plan to fix our infrastructure, and a plan to pay for it,” Psaki said. “But we are also open to having a discussion, and we certainly expect to have a discussion with members of Congress moving forward.”
Biden will release those details in a speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh, the same location he held his first campaign event after announcing his run for office in April 2019.
Psaki told “Fox News Sunday” the White House had yet to settle on its legislative strategy, “but I will say that I don’t think Republicans in this country think we should be 13th in the world as it relates to infrastructure.”
“Roads, railways, rebuilding them, that’s not a partisan issue,” she added.
On infrastructure, Republicans support a narrow bill focused on roads and bridges and balk at the size and scope of Biden’s overall plan as well as his focus on the environment. During the presidential campaign, Biden pledged $2 trillion in “accelerated” investments to shift to cleaner energy, build half a million charging stations for electric vehicles, support public transit and repair roads and bridges.
At his news conference last week, Biden called it “frustrating” that the U.S. had let much of its infrastructure deteriorate and said his upcoming plan will create significant jobs, which he said “used to be a great Republican goal and initiative.” But signaling the roadblocks ahead, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell last week warned that the White House plan would only lead to tax hikes and “left-wing policies.”
Psaki on Monday confirmed that the infrastructure package offers the option of addressing the tax code, although she did not offer specifics.
“[Biden] also believes that we have an opportunity to rebalance, to address our tax code that is out of date, and some could pay more in our country that aren’t currently,” Psaki said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
