Biden meets with Jayapal to kick off week of pivotal meetings

President Biden met Monday at the White House with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, kicking off a week of planned meetings to break the gridlock around his economic agenda.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would have calls throughout the day with Democratic lawmakers, and he will meet Tuesday with a group of moderate Democrats and a separate group of progressives.

Biden will also travel Wednesday to Scranton, Pa., to pitch his agenda to the public. His schedule throughout the week is expected to focus on pushing his agenda through Congress as the White House signals time is running out to reach agreement within the Democratic Party.

“The president is certainly feeling an urgency to move things forward, to get things done,” Psaki said. “I think you’ve seen that urgency echoed by members on the Hill that time is not unending here.”

Democrats have spent weeks negotiating the details of a reconciliation bill that Biden has proposed to include funding for universal pre-kindergarten, expanded health care and child care programs and initiatives intended to slow down climate change.

Biden has acknowledged the final price tag will fall short of the $3.5 trillion initially proposed and supported by progressive Democrats. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have made clear they would not support such an expensive bill.

At the same time, moderate Democrats have grown impatient that a Senate-passed infrastructure bill is languishing in the House. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and others have pushed for the House to pass that stand-alone bill while negotiations play out over the reconciliation bill, arguing it would offer a win for Democrats.