White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on Sunday said "we have to see whether ... Republicans in Washington join the rest of America in broadly supporting" President Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal.
But while he appeared to put the pressure on GOP senators to cross the aisle, he also told CBS News' John Dickerson that Biden had a "great conversation" with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) this week, adding that "we've invited her and a group of Republican senators to the White House in the next few days, hopefully." Klain was adamant that the administration intends to work with Republicans and "find common ground."
The sides were not able to meet in the middle on Biden's COVID-19 relief plan, so maybe Klain's words won't come to fruition, but The Washington Post has reported that the White House does indeed seem open to concessions when it comes to the infrastructure plan, which could also be broken into bits and pieces.
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When Biden spoke with Capito he reportedly "suggested he was contemplating her counteroffer of roughly $568 billion more seriously than he viewed the Republican response to his coronavirus relief legislation," the Post writes, especially since there's no pandemic-related shot clock this time. "We have a little more time for the consideration of this, and the percolation of these proposals, to have a broader consolation and dialogue," Steve Ricchetti, a top White House aide, told the Post. Read more at The Washington Post and CBS News.
