President Biden spoke to reporters on Thursday before boarding a plane to Cleveland, where he argued for his administration’s efforts on the economy.
Meanwhile, infrastructure talks are continuing on Capitol Hill, but a resolution isn't quite in sight.
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore-Capito introduced an alternative to the President Biden’ infrastructure plan on Thursday that drew sharp reaction almost immediately.
"As Republicans, we came back to the president today and we offered a $928 billion program over 8 years,” she said. “Again, keying in on the physical infrastructure that we've defined all the way through this process."
It's paid through repurposed COVID money, the Highway Trust Fund, and attracting private investment and user fees.
"But definitely not revisiting the tax cuts of 2017," Capito said.
She said President Biden called her immediately to continue talks.
"The president is the one who sort of mentioned the Memorial Day deadline, but in the conversation that I had with him just several hours ago, he said let's try to get together next week, so that's after Memorial Day, so I'd say that deadline has faded."
On broadband, Capito said there is agreement between the plan and the president.
"The president had put like a hundred million dollars on for completion of bringing the internet to every single person. We thought that was too high. We're at $65 billion, and the president actually has agreed with our number," she said.
Ohio Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown said the $928 billion Republican plan isn't big enough.
"It doesn't include very much,” he said. “First of all, it doesn't include nearly all of infrastructure. But 4 years ago, President Trump and the Republican Senate and House offered a trillion and-a-half-dollar infrastructure bill that then they changed their mind and gave all that away on tax cuts.”
While Capito says Memorial Day is no longer a deadline, Brown says Republicans might have to think again about what's going on in the bill.