President Joe Biden and his top advisers will look to ramp up conversations with key Congressional lawmakers this week on how to advance his $2.25 trillion infrastructure package.
Biden will lead an Oval Office meeting Monday afternoon with a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers, all of whom are former mayors and governors. Administration officials told the Daily Caller that the group selected all “understand firsthand the impact of a federal investment in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure on their communities.” (RELATED: Here’s Biden’s Strategy To Build GOP Support For His Massive Spending Plan)
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 15: U.S. President Joe Biden announces new economic sanctions against the Russia government from the East Room of the White House on April 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
As of Monday morning, the attendees include Democratic Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Democratic Florida Rep. Charlie Crist, Republican Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, Republican Texas Rep. Kay Granger, Democratic Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, Republican North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, Independent Maine Sen. Angus King, Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and Democratic California Rep. Norma Torres.
White House chief of staff Ron Klain and counselor to the president Steve Richetti will also host the House Democratic Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Coalition at the White House on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, White House officials added.
The slate of meetings come as members of both parties have offered alternative proposals to Biden’s “American Jobs Plan.”
The White House has not yet endorsed or shot down any of the alternative proposals, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during Friday’s briefing that the president is encouraging lawmakers to continue engaging with the administration on negotiations.
“He is very open to hearing different ideas, hearing different ways to get these — these big ideas he’s put forward; this historic investment to modernize our infrastructure, create millions of jobs forward,” Psaki stated. “The mechanisms for that, the construction of it, the pieces that it could flow through — he’s very open to what that looks like.”
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