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Biden wrote in a statement Saturday that his comments “created the impression that I was threatening to veto the plan I had just approved, which was certainly not my intention.”
His efforts to clean up those comments were one of the most significant course corrections in Biden’s hyper-disciplined presidency, which so far has been challenging his reputation as a slip machine.
“The bottom line is: I’ve given my word to support the infrastructure plan, and that’s what I intend to do,” Biden said on Saturday. I plan to follow through with the passage of that plan, which Democrats and Republicans vigorously approved Thursday.
However, Biden said, “I’ve been clear from the start that I hope the Infrastructure Plan is a plan that Democrats and Republicans will work on together, while I will seek to pass my Families Plan and other provisions through the process known as Reconciliation.”
The statement contradicted Biden’s comments in the East Room on Thursday, where he warned, “What I expect — I expect that in the coming months this summer, before the end of the fiscal year, we will vote on this bill, the infrastructure bill, and also vote on the budget resolution. Only one came to me—if that’s the only thing that comes to mind, I don’t sign it. It’s a tandem.”
The remarks quickly drew criticism from Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who warned in remarks Thursday, “This is no way to show you’re serious about a bipartisan outcome.”
While Biden’s advisers believed his sentiment was accurate – they want both deals to pass side by side – they acknowledged that the publicly demanding tactic was too advanced and should be watered down, as CNN previously reported.
In their public comments, White House officials – including press secretary Jane Psaki – refused to directly confirm Biden’s threat to leave the deal unsigned if the larger package did not materialize.
White House officials believe it has long been clear that the two packages will move together and have publicly ridiculed insinuations that lawmakers were taken aback. But Biden’s ultimatum appeared to be a test of the agreement’s continuity, prompting the same aides who negotiated the deal to answer the phone with lawmakers on Friday who were dismissive.
Steve Ritchetti and Louisa Terrell, Biden’s top infrastructure negotiators, reached out Friday with members of the bipartisan Senate group amid Republican anger over Biden’s comments on the legislative process, according to a White House official.
Earlier on Friday, White House aides scheduled a midday call with Democratic Senator Kirsten Sinema of Arizona, who led negotiations on Senate Democrats, to reassure her of Biden’s position. The White House released a reading of their conversations – an unusual move usually reserved for foreign counterparts – in which it said Biden and Cinema had discussed his plan to try to build support for the deal between Democrats and Republicans. A senior administration official acknowledged that they were trying to retract Biden’s comments and linked his conversation with Cinema directly to this effort.
Going forward, the White House plans to focus on bipartisan selling of the bill rather than getting bogged down in arranging Biden’s receipt of the legislation, and letting the Democratic leadership handle the timeline.
A White House official said Biden will take his bid for a bipartisan infrastructure agreement on the way, starting with a speech in Wisconsin on Tuesday.
This story has been updated with additional background.
Kevin Liptak, Caitlan Collins, Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
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