Biden reveals lawmakers invited to White House for infrastructure talks

The White House has revealed the lawmakers it has invited to meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris Monday on their $2 trillion infrastructure package.

Biden and Harris will sit down with Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wa.), as well as Reps. Don Young (R-Ak.), Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ), David Price (D-NC) and Garret Graves (R-La.), the White House said Sunday.

Both Fischer and Young have previously introduced infrastructure legislation.

Congress starts up again this week following a two-week recess, with the Senate returning Monday and the House on Tuesday, allowing negotiations to kick off on Biden’s mammoth proposal.

The two-part “Build Back Better” proposal, a centerpiece of Biden’s post-COVID campaign message, will be split into two packages for Congress to pass.

The first focuses on infrastructure, while the second will be aimed at funding Democrats’ domestic policy platform.In order to pay for the package, the federal government would impose a slew of new taxes, the administration revealed alongside the plan last month.

Members of the Biden administration have said that unlike the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, which passed on a party-line vote, the president is willing to negotiate on this bill.