The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, acknowledged this Sunday “that it seems obvious” that the social spending plan promoted by President Joe Biden will be less than the 3.5 trillion dollars originally proposed.
In this sense, Pelosi expressed herself in an interview on the ABC television network when asked about the doubts raised before the voluminous legislative package within the Democratic caucus itself and that progressives want to approve before the end of the month.
The Democratic leader said “it seems obvious” that it will be less than the 3.5 billion proposed by President Joe Biden, in order to have the backing of the moderate wing of the party.
However, he indicated that “even those who want a lower figure support the vision” of the president.
The ambitious social spending plan, designed to be disbursed over a decade, seeks to expand health coverage, fight poverty, implement measures against the climate crisis, guarantee public education for children under the age of five and invest in public housing, among other initiatives.
To finance it, Democrats have proposed a tax hike on the wealthiest and big business, to collect 2.9 trillion dollars over 10 years.
Pelosi assured that, despite some voices in the more moderate wing of the party who consider the package excessive and oppose some of the abrupt tax increases, the plan will finally be approved and described the legislation as “transformative . “
“We will get the necessary numbers” for the plan to go ahead, he said.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the proposal this week.
Afterward, Democratic leaders will have to negotiate with the more moderate members of their party, such as Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, to reach a final agreement.
To address this issue, Biden invited Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer to the White House this week; and subsequently met with members of the moderate faction, including Manchin and Sinema.