Politics

Biden visits Congress to put house in order

Washington DC, Oct 1 (EFE).- United States President Joe Biden visited the Congress on Friday to try to bring together his Democratic Party lawmakers, who are divided over his economic agenda.

Major local broadcasters aired footage of the president visiting the Capitol, accompanied by the Democrat leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi, respectively.

Behind closed doors, Biden addressed the two factions – the Progressives and the Centrists – that have left the party more divided than ever.

A source privy to the meeting told EFE that the president urged both parties to make concessions to reach an agreements, and reiterated his commitment to the two major points in his economic agenda, namely the $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan and the $3.5 trillion social spending plan.

After the 90-minute meeting, Biden addressed reporters and stressed that both his plans would be passed and he was in no hurry.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s in six minutes, six days or in six weeks. We’re going to get it done,” he said.

Pelosi had scheduled the infrastructure plan for voting on Thursday, but the Progressives threatened to block it in the lower house if the Senate did not vote earlier on the other legislative package aimed at expanding social programs.

One of the current major issues is the allocation for the social plan, in which the Progressives wanted an investment of between $6 trillion and $10 trillion.

While this amount comes to some $3.5 trillion under the current proposal, it is still very high for the Centrists.

On Friday, Biden asked his colleagues to reach an agreement at somewhere between $1.9 trillion and $2.3 trillion, sources present at the meeting told the Politico newspaper.

And even though the president left without any agreement, Biden’s gesture of reaching out to the Congress could possibly help bring his party members on the same page and get his economic plans passed. EFE

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