Biden to visit New Jersey to promote agenda as House looks to hold votes this week – live | US news

The deputy White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, briefly gaggled with reporters aboard Air Force One as Joe Biden flew to New Jersey for today’s events promoting his economic agenda.

Echoing the president’s comments from earlier this morning, Jean-Pierre said Biden’s meeting with Democratic senator Joe Manchin yesterday was “constructive” and that progress was made toward reaching a final deal on the reconciliation package.

Asked whether there is concern about Biden leaving for Europe later this week, during a key phase of the negotiations, Jean-Pierre emphasized that the president will be “engaged closely” with his advisers even while traveling.

“He’s going to be headed to Europe this week,” Jean-Pierre said, dismissing a question about whether Biden may delay the trip to focus on the negotiations.

“Even if it doesn’t happen before he leaves, the president can do the work that he needs to do abroad, like many presidents before him have done.”

Joe Biden is now en route from Delaware to New Jersey for a couple of events to promote his economic agenda.

The president briefly spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One, and he was asked about his meeting yesterday with Democratic Senator Joe Manchin to discuss the reconciliation package.

“It went well, a few more things to work out, but it went well,” Biden said of his conversation with Manchin.

Regarding the timing of the negotiations, the president said it would be “very positive” to reach a final deal on the reconciliation package before he leaves for Europe.

The president is scheduled to leave Washington later this week to meet with Pope Francis in Vatican City, participate in the G20 summit in Rome and attend the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow.

Democratic senator Joe Manchin has pushed for a smaller reconciliation package, and it appears that the final bill will cost $1.5tn to $2tn, compared to the original $3.5tn price tag.

Among other demands, Manchin has opposed extending the expanded child tax credit in its current form. The expanded credit was first approved in Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package and is expected to expire at the end of the year.

And Manchin is facing some noteworthy criticism for his views on the child tax credit. Politico reports:

At a recording of West Virginia Public Radio’s ‘Mountain Stage’ program at the Kennedy Center on Sunday night, singer Carsie Blanton called out Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who was in attendance, in a song she’d written called ‘Dealing to the Devil.’ It’s a story about her ex-boyfriend and Donald Trump, but she shifted the dedication to Manchin over his resistance to fully extending the child tax credit, drawing cheers from the crowd. Awkward.

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Joe Biden will visit New Jersey today to promote his economic agenda, as congressional Democrats attempt to (finally) get the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package across the finish line.

The president will visit East End Elementary School in North Plainfield and then deliver remarks on his Build Back Better agenda in a suburb of Newark.

Meanwhile, the House is looking to hold votes this week on both the reconciliation package and the infrastructure bill, but it remains unclear whether Democrats can reach a final deal this week.

Biden met with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a key vote in the reconciliation debate, in Delaware yesterday, raising hopes that both bills may soon pass.

“We have 90% of the bill agreed to and written. We just have some of the last decisions to be made,” House speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN yesterday. “We’re pretty much there now.”

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.