Booker: ‘If we do a $3 trillion bill, a $2.5 trillion bill, I’m going to push for as big and bold as we can’

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Sunday committed to passing “big and bold” measures in the multibillion dollar reconciliation bill as congressional Democratic leaders acknowledge the final price tag will likely be smaller than the proposed $3.5 trillion.

“If we do a $3 trillion bill, a $2.5 trillion bill, I’m going to push for as big and bold as we can. But it will be a historic investment in America,” Booker said while appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The New Jersey Democrat also took aim at former President Trump for amassing billion in debt.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday acknowledged that it “seems self-evident” the reconciliation bill will have to pared back.

“I think even those who want a smaller number support the vision of the president,” Pelosi said when speaking on the apparent divisions in the Democratic Party over the reconciliation bill.

“Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd noted that Booker had recently signed a letter urging for the reconciliation bill to be completed before the bipartisan infrastructure is brought up in the House. Todd questioned whether there was a lack of trust in Democratic moderates.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of trust. I think it’s a matter of I’ve been around here, this town, now for eight years, watching the best of intentions not manifest into something real,” said Booker.

 “And so I just want to make sure this is not about a bunch of people who are battling it out in Congress. This is about the American people,” Booker added.

“And to get half of this done and leave mothers who are looking for affordable childcare, Americans who are looking for lower cost prescription drugs, to leave people like that on the wayside, families that need that child tax credit, to leave those folks on the wayside is unacceptable to me. So I’ve seen the best of intentions. I want a more real guarantee,” Booker said.