Progressive chair Pramila Jayapal: ‘Didn’t want to pit roads and bridges against health care’

Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Sunday the progressive caucus is flexing its muscle to remind President Biden of his own agenda, which goes beyond roads and bridges and includes dental, vision and hearing care for seniors, free prekindergarten, major efforts to tackle climate change and other investments that would touch countless American lives.

Ms. Jayapal brought up the totality of Mr. Biden’s platform as her wing of the House Democratic caucus pushes Mr. Biden to deliver on a social welfare bill ahead of a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the Senate.

Speaking to CNN, Ms. Jayapal said leaders and Mr. Biden erred in putting a near-term, “arbitrary” deadline on passing the physical infrastructure bill and delinking that legislation from the families plan.

“We thought we made clear the two had to move together because we didn’t want to pit roads and bridges against health care,” the Washington state Democrat told “State of the Union.” “We had to stand up and get the whole thing back together.”

Yet Democratic senators like Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are pushing Mr. Biden from the other side, saying they’re uncomfortable with trillions of new spending in the families plan and signs that Democratic leadership will postpone the infrastructure package until it can satisfy the progressive wing on the parallel plan.

Mr. Biden met with House Democrats late Friday in an effort to salvage his two legislative packages, but came away empty-handed. He vowed to sell his overall plan to the American people.

“We are going to deliver both bills,” Ms. Jayapal said, echoing Democrats who profess optimism despite clear divides.

Underscoring the logjam, Mr. Manchin said a bill that gets rid of the “Hyde Amendment” ban on federal funding for abortion would be dead on arrival, even as Ms. Jayapal told CNN she couldn’t vote for something that includes Hyde.

Much of the debate on the families’ plan hinges on the total cost of the package, prompting Democrats to call for a reset in which they figure out what to keep in the plan first.

“Let’s get our priorities in and then we’ll focus on the top-line cost,” Ms. Jayapal said.

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, Illinois Democrat, told CNN he supports the $3.5 trillion on the table but he’s “listening” to Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema as they try to figure what stays in and what is cut or put off for future legislation. He refused to give potential examples, saying it would jeopardize negotiations.

Mr. Biden, who acknowledged he needs more time to wrangle Democratic allies and salvage his agenda, said he plans to travel the country in support of the plan as Democrats target the end of October for a resolution.

Mr. Durbin offered support for his allies amid the scramble.

“He rolled up his sleeves and traveled to Capitol Hill,” Mr. Durbin said of Mr. Biden, adding: “Never underestimate Nancy Pelosi. I saw her deliver the Affordable Care Act.”

• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.