Senior White House adviser Cedric Richmond on Sunday expressed confidence about passing both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the larger reconciliation package, saying, “We know what we’re doing.”
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Richmond made assurances that the Biden administration is not “not concerned with process.”
“We’re concerned about delivering,” he stated. Richmond also said that President Biden “wants both bills and he expects to get both bills.”
Last week, the Democratic caucus failed to bring the bipartisan infrastructure bill up for a vote, resulting in a new deadline of Oct. 31 being set by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) also announced on Thursday that he would not support any reconciliation bill over $1.5 trillion, enraging progressives.
“Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace asked Richmond what he thought of Manchin’s opposition to the social spending bill, which Democrats hope to pass without Republican support through the reconciliation process, noting the senator called it “fiscal insanity.”
“Well, I won’t say that Sen. Manchin is wrong, but I will say that this administration, we know what we need to do, we need to deliver for the American people,” said Richmond. “We think we have unity of purpose with Sen. Manchin. That’s what the president does best, and that is to talk to Sen. Manchin and make sure that he understands the entire vision why we need to do it.”
When Richmond asserted that the reconciliation bill would cost “zero,” Wallace shot back, arguing that even if the funds are derived from higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, that would still be a cost to be considered.
“At the end of the day it will cost zero because we’re gonna pay for it,” said Richmond. “Now if you go back and look at the Trump tax cuts, which weren’t paid for, they cost billions and billions. But we’re going to pay for everything we spend here and that is not including the economic benefits and gains that we will get from it, but we know what we’re doing.”