House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said during an interview on Sunday that people should not be focused on the $3.5 trillion price tag …
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said during an interview on Sunday that people should not be focused on the $3.5 trillion price tag of a social spending bill that Democrats are trying to ram through Congress. Pelosi made the remarks during an interview on “This Week” with anchor George Stephanopoulos. The $3.5 trillion price tag associated with the bill has been called into question in the past, with the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimating that the bill’s true cost could be over $5 trillion. “Yesterday the budget committee passed out the Build Back Better legislation at the full $3.5 trillion, that was the number that was sent to us by the Senate and by the president,” Pelosi said. “Obviously with negotiations there will have to be some changes in that, the sooner the better, so that we can build our consensus to go forward.” When pressed about some moderate Democrats not supporting the bill because of the cost, Pelosi claimed that it “will be paid for” as she tried to dismiss fears of inflation. “It will be paid for, and that’s the beauty of it, by having those in our economy and society who have not paid their fair share, paying their fair share,” Pelosi said. “So, again, the Senate and the House, those who are not in full agreement with the president, right, let’s see what our values — let’s not talk about numbers and dollars. Let’s talk about values.” WATCH: TRANSCRIPT: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC “THIS WEEK” ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to “This Week,” a week that may be make or break for President Biden’s ambitious agenda, more than a trillion dollars for infrastructure investments, another $3 trillion-plus to address climate change, child care, education and more, all this as a government shutdown looms on Friday, plus the prospect of America defaulting for the first time in history if Congress does not soon authorize government borrowing to pay past debts. At the center of it all, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who joins us this week from the Capitol. Good morning, Madam Speaker. NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER (D): Good morning, George. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today. STEPHANOPOULOS: So, I just laid out a pretty daunting list right there. You have called the next few days a time of intensity for Congress. Have you ever faced a challenge with so much at stake? PELOSI: Every time we face a challenge, you say it’s an historic challenge, whether it’s passing the Affordable Care Act or other legislation that we passed in the previous administration. It’s all the wonderful legislative process that we have. But I thank you for calling this President Biden’s agenda, because that’s exactly what it is. This is the vision of the president. And he has said that, while he wants to pass the infrastructure bill — and we will — that he will not confine his vision for the future to just that bill, that it had to be about building back better. And building back better has the support over 95 percent of our caucus. So, when you say Democrats divided, no, overwhelmingly — I have never seen, actually, over 95 percent of a caucus just about for anything. There are some who disagree, and I respect that, about the size of the package, and so some in the Senate, a couple in the Senate as well. And we have to find our common ground, respectful of each other’s views. But this isn’t about moderates vs. progressives. Overwhelmingly, the entirety of our caucus, except for a few whose judgment I respect, support the vision of Joe Biden. And we will pass — make progress on it this week. STEPHANOPOULOS: So make progress, not necessarily pass. You said you have support of 95 percent of Democrats. PELOSI: Yes. STEPHANOPOULOS: The problem is, you need 98 or 99 percent… PELOSI: Yes… STEPHANOPOULOS:… to pass — to pass the bills. And I know you said the infrastructure bill is going to pass. But the leader of the Progressive Caucus in the House, Pramila Jayapal, is balking. She said on Friday that — that voting on this bill tomorrow, it’s an arbitrary date, adding that more than 50 members will vote no if you first don’t have agreement on the broader social investment bill. So, are you confident these progressive members are going to vote yes, even though she says no? PELOSI: Well, let me just say we’re going to pass the bill this week. I promised that we would bring the bill to the floor. That was according to the language that those who wanted this brought to the floor tomorrow wrote into the rule.
