White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond said President Joe Biden is willing to reconsider his commitment to get a bipartisan infrastructure bill if inaction becomes inevitable.
On Sunday, Richmond said the president would “change course” if congressional Republicans won’t get on board with the looming infrastructure package.
“He wants a deal. He wants it soon, but if there’s meaningful negotiations taking place in a bipartisan manner, he’s willing to let that play out. But again, he will not let inaction be the answer. And when he gets to the point where it looks like that is inevitable, you’ll see him change course,” Richmond said during a segment on CNN’s State of the Union.
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For now, Richmond says the administration is engaged in getting a bipartisan infrastructure bill on the table.
Republicans have objected to several Democratic proposals, while lawmakers have also sparred over what investments are defined as “infrastructure.”
Biden’s proposal would throw money at expanding broadband, roads and bridges, and home care and disability services. On Friday, the White House dropped the cost of Biden’s bill from $2.25 trillion to $1.7 trillion. Republicans have proposed a $568 billion package, according to a report by CNN.
Sen. Roy Blunt, one of the Republicans negotiating with the White House on the bill, said the high cost of Biden‘s proposal lays in what the president has defined as infrastructure. The Missouri Republican added that there’s still roughly over a week to decide whether they can work together on the package.
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“Our biggest gap is not the money. Our biggest gap is defining what infrastructure is … I do think we’ve got about a week or 10 days to decide if we can work together on this or not. I’d like to,” Blunt said on Fox News Sunday. “I believe the president would like to. The number is too big because the scope of what the White House staff wants to call infrastructure is way too big.”
