Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday that President Biden “will continue to fight for” the policies in his social spending plan, although the legislation has been stalled on Capitol Hill for months.
“These are good policies and we are going to continue to fight for them,” Buttigieg said in an interview with CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil and Tanya Rivero.
Buttigieg wouldn’t directly comment on whether the plan, which passed the House but faces heavy resistance in the Senate, was “dead,” like Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said in January. “We stand by the policies the president has put forward,” Buttigieg said.
Mr. Biden said at a press conference in January that he was “confident” that “chunks” of the $1.75 dollar domestic policy and social spending bill known as Build Back Better would pass.
A senior administration official said Monday that at Mr. Biden’s first State of the Union address on Tuesday that “you can expect the president to lay out tomorrow” how his plan and “the ideas he’s put forward, lowers costs for families, can reduce the deficit and that it’s time for Congress to act. It’s time for Congress to get him a piece of legislation that addresses those core challenges for families right now.”
Buttigieg said Monday that economic issues will be a “consistent theme” in Mr. Biden’s address.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that Mr. Biden will “absolutely” use the word “inflation” during the speech, despite administration officials having previously shied away from using it.
“Well first, let me say the president will absolutely use the word inflation tomorrow and he will talk about inflation in his speech,” Psaki said. “Of course, that is a huge issue on the minds of Americans. Now, one thing to note is one of the best, most important steps that the Senate could take is to confirm his slate of eminently qualified nominees to fill out the Federal Reserve Board, given they have a very important role as it relates to inflation.”
