Sen. Roger Wicker said Sunday that Republicans are willing to negotiate with President Biden on infrastructure if Mr. Biden is willing to come down from his plan’s $2.3 trillion price tag.
“We are willing to negotiate with him on an infrastructure package, and this trillion-dollar number is way too high for me,” Mr. Wicker, Mississippi Republican, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Mr. Wicker is among a group of congressional Democrats and Republicans who are scheduled to meet Monday with Mr. Biden at the White House to talk about the plan.
Mr. Wicker said social welfare programs make up roughly 70% of the package and Mr. Biden’s proposal to raise taxes by roughly $2.5 trillion would kill jobs.
“I can’t think of a worse tax to put on the American people than to raise taxes on small business job creators, which is what this bill would do,” he said.
Mr. Wicker said negotiations need to be different than the talks on the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that Democrats muscled through Congress without GOP support.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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