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An official told CNN that the call, originally scheduled for Monday, between the president and the West Virginia senator, is scheduled for later Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday’s conversation is expected to be Capito’s last chance to speak with Biden before he departs on his first international trip to Europe. A White House official said staff-level talks will continue while Biden is out of the country, but the president is not expected to participate in the discussions after Tuesday’s invitation.
Biden and Capito have been in frequent contact since the president proposed a comprehensive infrastructure plan. But the talks continued to pass the White House deadline for Memorial Day without achieving a major breakthrough between the two sides, leading to pressure from some Democrats to move on from the bipartisan talks.
While both sides have moved closer to the middle with their proposals, there are still significant gaps in how much new spending the infrastructure package will include, and how to pay for it.
Biden invited Capito to the White House last week and offered to cut him to $1 trillion in new spending, and on Friday, he rejected a new counteroffer Capito made on behalf of Senate Republicans that included a $50 billion increase in spending. Biden told Capito that the new offer did not meet his policy goals.
Capito has indicated repeatedly this week that she is not sure where the infrastructure negotiations are heading at this point.
“I don’t think we’ll reach a deal today, but I still think there is a deal that can be reached here,” she said on Tuesday.
Capito also said earlier on Tuesday that she did not feel this was an important day for the negotiations and that she viewed the call as part of an “ongoing conversation”.
Hours before he is scheduled to speak with Capito, Biden appeared to suggest on Tuesday that the door shuts when any kind of bipartisan agreement is reached.
“I’m working hard to find common ground with Republicans when it comes to America’s Jobs Plan, but I refuse to raise taxes on Americans who make less than $400,000 a year to pay for it. It’s been a long time since the rich and corporations paid for a post,” Biden tweeted.
Some Democrats are pressing the White House to walk away from negotiations with Republicans, go it alone and pass a massive infrastructure plan with only Democrats’ votes. Senate Majority Webb Dick Durbin of Illinois said Monday that he believes bipartisan talks about a massive infrastructure package are on track.
House Democrats on Wednesday will begin preparing an infrastructure bill for passage with or without Republican support.
Sources familiar with the efforts told CNN that a bipartisan group of senators led by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia is also working on a proposal that could be revealed as soon as next week.
Capito said on Tuesday that she is not involved with the group.
“This is really separate and far from what I’ve been dealing with,” she said. “I stick to what I have.”
CNN’s Ali Zaslav and Megan Vasquez contributed to this report.
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