Aiming to preserve a fragile bipartisan deal on infrastructure, US President Joe Biden endorsed it “without hesitation” on Saturday, walking back from a threat to veto it if the US Congress also did not pass an even larger package to expand the social safety net.
Biden said he did not mean to suggest in earlier remarks that he would veto the nearly US$1 trillion infrastructure bill unless Congress also passed a broader package of investments that he and fellow Democrats aim to approve along party lines, the two together totaling about US$4 trillion.
Speaking on Thursday moments after fulfilling his hopes of reaching a bipartisan accord, Biden appeared to put the deal in jeopardy with his comment that the infrastructure bill would have to move in “tandem” with the larger bill.
Although Biden had been clear he would pursue the massive new spending for childcare, Medicare and other investments, Republicans balked at his notion that he would not sign one without the other.
“If this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it,” Biden said then of the infrastructure bill. “It’s in tandem.”
By Saturday, Biden was seeking to clarify those comments, after his top negotiators, Counselor to the President Steve Ricchetti and White House Office of Legislative Affairs Director Louisa Terrell, worked to assure senators that Biden remained enthusiastic about the deal.
“My comments also created the impression that I was issuing a veto threat on the very plan I had just agreed to, which was certainly not my intent,” Biden said in a statement.
“I intend to pursue the passage of that plan, which Democrats and Republicans agreed to on Thursday, with vigor,” Biden said. “It would be good for the economy, good for our country, good for our people. I fully stand behind it without reservation or hesitation.”
Biden’s earlier remarks had drawn sharp criticism from some Republicans, including US Senator Lindsey Graham, who tweeted on Friday: “No deal by extortion!”
Others felt “blindsided” by what they said was a shift in their understanding of his position.
Tensions appeared to calm afterward, when senators from the group of negotiators convened a conference call, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a private meeting.
Biden is set to travel tomorrow to Wisconsin for the first stop on a nationwide tour to promote the infrastructure package, the White House said.
The sudden swings point to the difficult path ahead for what promises to be a long process of turning Biden’s nearly US$4 trillion infrastructure proposals into law.
The two measures were always expected to move together through Congress: the bipartisan plan and a second bill that would advance under special rules allowing for passage solely with majority Democrats votes and is now swelling to US$6 trillion.
Biden reiterated that was his plan on Saturday, but said he was not conditioning one on the other.
“So to be clear, our bipartisan agreement does not preclude Republicans from attempting to defeat my Families Plan; likewise, they should have no objections to my devoted efforts to pass that Families Plan and other proposals in tandem,” his statement said.
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