President Biden on Sunday expressed optimism that the House would pass a sweeping social and climate policy package by the end of the coming week.
“I believe we will pass my Build Back Better plan and I believe we will pass the infrastructure bill. Combined, they have $900 billion … in dealing with climate and resilience and it’s the largest investment in the history of the world that’s ever occurred. And it’s going to pass, in my view. But we’ll see, we’ll see,” Biden told reporters on Sunday during a press conference in Rome after a two-day Group of 20 (G20) summit.
“I believe we’ll see by the end of next week at home that it’s passed,” Biden added.
Biden left for Europe on Thursday short of a deal on the sweeping spending package, though Democrats appear closer than ever to moving it forward after the White House unveiled a slimmed-down compromise $1.75 trillion proposal hours before Biden left for Rome.
Biden had hoped to have a deal on the package going into a critical United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, which he’s set to attend on Monday, in order to strengthen his hand in talks with other leaders about addressing climate change.
Still, Biden sought to put to rest questions about the bill’s fate with his comments at Sunday’s news conference, which came hours after a contingent of administration officials and lawmakers expressed optimism it would have a vote this week.
Biden said earlier during the news conference that the package would “god willing” be voted on as early as the coming week.
The social spending and climate package, which Democrats intend to pass without Republican support through a process known as budget reconciliation, contains over $550 billion to address climate change.
The White House and Democratic leaders have been engaged in intense negotiations with members over the past several weeks in order to settle on a deal that satisfies both moderates and progressives.
Biden is also hoping for a vote on the spending package so that he can unlock a vote on a separate Senate-passed infrastructure bill that progressives have refused to vote for without movement on the larger bill.
House Democrats are eyeing votes on both bills as early as Tuesday, according to a leadership aide, however White House officials and lawmakers are still engaged in negotiations to work out the details of the package after Biden unveiled the framework Thursday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been forced to push back earlier plans for votes on the infrastructure package because a deal on the social and climate bill eluded Democrats.