Biden administration indicates frustration over Congress failing to pass $3.5T spending package

The White House indicated on Thursday a growing frustration over the failure to advance a $3.5 trillion spending package through Congress.
A recent poll shows that only 10% of Americans know what is in President Joe Biden’s spending request, known as the Build Back Better Plan
“We’re not just looking to build back – after a storm you’re going to build back – we’re going to build back better, so when the storm comes again, we’re not going to be wiped out,” says Ed Potosnak, executive director of the League of Conservation Voters.
The Build Back Better Plan would include two years of free community college, universal child care, and pre-K nationwide for 3- and 4-year-olds.
“Without it, folks start from behind and often it’s families that don’t have the means to invest in pre-K on their own,” says Potosnak.
The spending plan also includes measures that could lead to cheaper prescription drugs, full dental, vision and hearing coverage for seniors on Medicare and would make permanent the temporary increases in the child tax credit, which the White House says will help 40 million families.
“For us, there’s really been a focus on having good, strong measures to combat climate change,” Potosnak says.
Potosnak, a progressive, says he wants President Joe Biden to keep the bill as big as possible and include measures like rebates for people who buy new electric cars - which could be up to $7,500 - and other methods to fight the climate change believed to have led to stronger storms like Tropical Storm Ida.
“The hope is, yes, we will shut down our most polluting facilities, the ones that are poisoning communities and our air and our water and our land and move to renewable sources like solar and wind,” he says.
Despite resistance on Capitol Hill from Republicans and moderate Democrats, Potosnak says he is confident a final bill will pass.
“I feel like we are headed in the right direction,” he says.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week that the plan may have to be trimmed down to pass. She has vowed to keep climate change mitigation a priority.