President Obama should lean on Democratic leaders in the House and Senate to “knock some sense” into the stimulus, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Tuesday.
“I continue to ask that the president continue to put some pressure or influence on Speaker Pelosi to see if she can come around and knock some sense into this bill,” Cantor implored of the Obama during an appearance on Fox News.
Cantor argued that Obama had not met his standard of changing the way Washington works by backing the stimulus plan headed to conference after the Senate passed the measure this afternoon.
“The bill that came out of the House and, frankly, that making its way in the Senate doesn’t reflect that standard,” he said. “So I’m hopeful, once the Senate does act, we can get it into conference, the White House will use its ability to influence Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid to make this bill into something that will actually produce jobs.”
When pressed, Cantor admitted he believed that the bill to come out of conference would likely be a “far cry” from where Republicans think the plan should be.
Watch a video of the interview below: