Biden asks lawmakers to vote now on his agenda

President Biden on Friday asked House lawmakers to vote immediately on his infrastructure bill and broader climate and social spending package. 

“I’m asking every House member, member of the House of Representatives, to vote ‘yes’ on both these bills right now. Send the infrastructure bill to my desk. Send the Build Back Better bill to the Senate. Let’s build an incredible economic progress, build on what we’ve already done, because this will be such a boost when it occurs,” Biden said in remarks from the White House.

“Let’s show the world that America’s democracy can deliver and propel our economy forward,” he added.

Biden’s appeal for swift action came as lawmakers continued to debate the timing of votes on Biden’s domestic agenda on Friday morning. A group of moderate Democrats are demanding a full Congressional Budget Office analysis of the social spending package, threatening Democrats’ hopes for votes on both measures Friday.

Biden, who made the comments during a speech on the October jobs report, said he would be making calls to lawmakers from the Oval Office later today.

Some Democrats have urged Biden to take a more forceful approach to calling for a vote on the bills as Democrats have struggled to overcome disagreements over the sequencing of both bills and the scope of the larger package. Democrats have been seeking votes on both bills with a renewed sense of urgency following a loss in the Virginia governor’s race on Tuesday.

Biden was also making calls to various lawmakers on Thursday evening, but not advocating for a specific timeline and leaving that up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Leaving the room on Friday morning, Biden declined to answer a shouted question about the CBO score but indicated he would address questions when the bills pass. 

During his remarks, Biden cheered the Labor Department report released on Friday showing that the U.S. added 531,000 jobs during the month of October, a sign of the jobs market rebounding amid the coronavirus pandemic that exceeded many economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate also dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 4.6 percent.

“America is getting back to work. Our economy is starting to work for more Americans,” Biden said in prepared remarks.

At the same time, he argued that more work was left to be done, stressing the need to pass his domestic agenda and expand coronavirus vaccinations in the U.S. Biden described “driving vaccinations up and covid down” as the key to restoring the nation to economic health.

“There’s a lot more to be done. We still have to tackle the costs that American families are facing, but this recovery is faster, stronger, and fairer and wider than almost anyone could have predicted,” Biden said. “But we want to make sure that people continue to feel it in their lives, in their bank accounts, in their hopes and expectations. For a tomorrow that’s better than today.”