Jayapal: ‘We are going to deliver’ on infrastructure and reconciliation bills

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said on Sunday that she was confident the House could still pass both a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a Democratic-only reconciliation package despite both measures being stalled in the chamber this week.

“We are going to deliver both bills,” Jayapal said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Her comments come after President Biden went to Capitol Hill Friday amid deep divisions among House Democrats in which Jayapal’s progressive caucus refused to vote on a smaller bipartisan infrastructure bill before voting on a larger $3.5 trillion social spending package.

“We don’t want to pit roads and bridges against child care,” Jayapal said on Sunday. 

When asked about the changing price tag for the $3.5 trillion plan, Jayapal said that the social programs that the bill funds would be her priority rather than the cost.

“What we’ve said from the beginning is that it’s never been about the price tag. It’s about what we want to deliver,” Jayapal said. “The critical thing is let’s get our priorities in and then we will figure out the actual cost.”

When asked if the bill’s price tag could go as low as $1.5 trillion, as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) suggested this week, Jayapal said that was “too small to get our priorities in.”

“I don’t have a definite number yet. I don’t have a counter offer,” Jayapal added of the current status of negotiations.

“There’s no number on the table yet that… everyone has agreed to,” Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal tells @DanaBashCNN when asked about the ongoing negotiations on the larger spending package. Adding, $1.5 trillion is “too small to get our priorities in.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/KV2EZ3Ig49

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 3, 2021

Yet the substance of the spending bill remains in limbo as leaders clash over controversial issues like the Hyde Amendment Manchin said the reconciliation bill must include to get his vote.

Under the Hyde Amendment, Medicaid and other programs are not permitted to allocate federal dollars to abortion expenses. The amendment has been part of government spending bills since 1976. 

Jayapal, who shared her experience with abortion in congressional testimony last week, said on CNN she would not vote for a bill with the Hyde Amendment.