Hoyer hopes Biden jobs plan becomes bipartisan reality

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD) has said that he hopes Biden jobs plan (officially the American Jobs Plan) becomes a bipartisan reality.

The Democratic representative from Maryland’s 5th congressional district released a statement on the March jobs report on Friday, saying that in the coming months the Democratic-led Congress will work closely with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to turn the jobs plan into reality.

“and I hope we can do so in a bipartisan way,” said Hoyer in the statement.

Hoyer hopes that despite six Republican senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), releasing press releases opposing the Biden jobs plan two days earlier.

In addition to McConnell, the Republican senators opposing the plan include Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Senator Shelley Moore (R-Wv.), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Senator John Barrasso (R-Wy.), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Senator Mike Crapo (R-Id.), Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Ranking Member Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Ranking Member Senator Roger Wicker (R-Ms.).

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-Sc.) has also voiced concern, saying Republicans just want to ensure the plan is infrastructure-related, according to USAToday, which also reported Missouri Representative Sam Graves, the top Republican on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, as saying, “A transportation bill needs to be a transportation bill, not a Green New Deal. It needs to be about roads and bridges.”

Other GOP House representatives that have opposed the Biden jobs plan include Republican members of Alabama’s congressional delegation, as reported by Advance Local. Moreover, the office of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday published a blog post titled “Bidenomics,” blasting the president’s proposed plan.

Hoyer appeared to be giving the reason for hoping a bipartisan agreement on the Biden jobs plan, saying in the statement, “The job-creating investments in infrastructure included in the plan have long been supported by both parties and by large majorities of the American people.”

He added, “I look forward to continuing the work of building our economy back stronger in 2021 as we begin to turn the page on this deadly pandemic and embrace the vision of a better future we can surely make possible if we work together.”

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain suggested in an interview with Politico on Thursday that the Biden administration was willing to advance the plan without any Republican votes, according to a news report by The Washington Post.