White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday said putting a Christmas deadline on the Senate passing the Build Back Better (BBB) bill was premature, according to the Washington Examiner.
Psaki told reporters during the press briefing that Biden is "fully supportive" of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's pre-Christmas push but appeared less confident than the majority leader it would pass before the preferred deadline.
"If it goes into the new year, the president believes that it would be better to preserve this agenda," the press secretary said.
"I don't think we're in a place to make that prediction from here, nor is anyone at this point in time. I mean, the president supports this package, of course, because it includes an extension of the child tax credit, but also because it will lower the cost of prescription drugs, of child care, of elder care, of housing."
"Key components that are impacting people across this country," she continued. "He thinks that's a pretty compelling case. The American public agrees. They like all of those components, too, but he also understands how the legislative process works."
In response to inflation concerns raised by Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Psaki noted several White House staffers are in contact with Manchin "to continue to play a constructive role" in making "the case that this will not impact inflation."
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a key swing vote for the BBB act, said on Monday that Democrats should curb the cost of the $2 trillion bill by choosing their "highest priorities," The Associated Press reported.
Last week, the West Virginia senator commented on a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report showing that the budget impact of the BBB act, if made permanent, would be $3 trillion over the next decade, calling it "very sobering," per Politico.
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