Pelosi says 90% of social spending plan is done and previews Democrats will have deal by this week

Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Democrats expect to pass Joe Biden‘s massive social spending plan by the end of the week that will pave the way for the bipartisan infrastructure deal to pass.

‘We have 90% of the bill agreed to and written, we just have some of the last decisions to be made,’ the House Speaker told CNN State of the Union host Jake Tapper.

‘I think we’re pretty much there now. We’re almost there – it’s just the language of it,’ Pelosi said, adding Democrats will have the deal by the time President Biden leaves for Europe at the end of the week.

Centrist Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are holding up the massive social spending package.

To appease the duo, Democrats have already cut the price tag from $3.5 trillion to $2 trillion.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Democrats will have a deal on Biden’s massive social spending package by the end of the week

‘It is less than what was projected to begin with, but it is still bigger than anything we’ve done in terms of addressing the needs of American working families,’ Pelosi said on Sunday.

She added: ‘Nonetheless, the point is to reach a goal.’

Democrats have held several discussions in recent days to try and get centrists, like Sinema and Manchin, as well as progressives to sign off on the plan aimed at major investments in health care, climate and environmental policy and childcare and paid leave for parents and caregivers.

Democrats have how to bow to some of centrist Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema’s demands, like bringing the price tag down from $3.5 trillion to $2 trillion at the highest

Progressives made the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill’s passage reliant on the social safety net spending bill, saying they would not vote to pass the former if the latter was also not passed.

This has caused a monthslong impasse in Congress as Sinema and Manchin refused to get on board with the plan if the social spending bill was not massively reduced.

The two lawmakers not only wanted the package shrunk, but also wanted certain provisions ditched and a better outline of how the plan is to be paid for.

‘We will have something that will meet the president’s goals,’ Pelosi told CNN. ‘I feel very confident about that, even though it will be different than what we originally proposed.’

The California Democrat specifically noted that the deal with reach Biden’s goal of ‘zero emissions,’ focusing on the climate side of the package, which Republicans deeply oppose.

Also on Sunday, Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are meeting with Biden in Wilmington, Delaware for budget talks.

Source: dailymail