Photo: Doug Mills-Pool / Getty Images
President Joe Biden welcomed the Democratic and Republican leaders of both houses of Congress on Wednesday at the White House, where they discussed the plan of infrastructure-focused employment of the president for nearly two hours, but they made little progress in reaching consensus.
This was the first time in his presidency that Biden met in person with the so-called Big 4: the Democratic leader of the Senate Majority, Chuck Schumer, of New York, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, of California, and Senate Republican Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky and the House. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy from California. Vice President Kamala Harris also attended the meeting, which took place in the Oval Office.
“Today we are going to talk a lot about infrastructure. And let’s see if there is any way to come to a compromise that does people’s work and is within the bounds of everyone agreeing, “said Biden at the beginning of the meeting between representatives of both houses .
This morning, Vice President Harris and I met with a bipartisan group of Congressional Leaders. As I’ve said before, we can’t let the divisions of the present stop us from doing right by the future. We’re committed to working together to build back better for the American people. pic.twitter.com/EaR5vwPoaj
– President Biden (@POTUS) May 12, 2021
After the meeting, McCarthy and McConnell spoke briefly with reporters.
McConnell said that most of the conversation with the president revolved around to its infrastructure-focused employment plan and that there is “a bipartisan desire for a result.”
But he added that the two parties still needed to “define what infrastructure is”, suggesting that had not made significant progress in the most basic elements of a negotiation.
A reading of the White House meeting said that attendees had “agreed that there was a need for investment” in infrastructure, but did not cite no other progress.
Pelosi sounded the most optimistic of the attendees, and said after the meeting that felt “more optimistic now that we will do in a bipartisan way. But we’ll see. ”
The first piece of Biden’s national policy agenda in two parts is the $ 2.3 billion American Employment Plan , targeting a wide range of infrastructure spending that encompasses both traditional projects and highways, as well as more progressive efforts such as broadband expansion.
Republicans have opposed Biden’s plan to classify projects such as electric vehicle charging stations and expanded broadband as “Infrastructure”.
McConnell also reiterated the firm line Red flag from the Republican Party on the increase in the corporate tax rate , which was drastically reduced by 1200 under then-President Donald Trump, to fund any of the proposals by Biden .
“We are not interested in reopening the tax law of 2017. We both made it clear with the president. That’s our red line, ”McConnell said. “This discussion… will not include the revision of the tax law of 2017.”
The second part of Biden’s agenda is the $ 1.8 Trillion American Family Plan , which proposes funding for an additional four years of free universal education, the care subsidy for middle-class families and expand paid family leave and child tax credits.
During his presidential campaign, Biden promised to cross the aisle and find areas of consensus between the two sides, something he said would help mend the deeply divided nation.
However, Republicans say the only way Biden could expecting to win bipartisan support for any part of his legislative agenda is by reducing his infrastructure plan to less than the mi tad of its current size, and not by funding it with corporate tax increases, as proposed by Biden . but with user fees for drivers and users of public transport.
Regarding the family and child care plan, so far they have Few, if any, areas of compromise have emerged.
Biden also found himself searching for common ground with a fractured Republican Party, further complicating the political calculus.
Wednesday’s meeting took place just hours after House Republicans ousted the representative Liz Cheney , from her position as president of the Republican conference for her refusal to accept Trump’s lie that the elections of 2020 were manipulated.