Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and President Joe Biden in 2020 photo/Twitter
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez | Arizona Republic
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema met with President Joe Biden Tuesday as the White House seeks to shore up support for his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan proposal.
Sinema’s meeting at the White House comes a day after Biden met with another key centrist Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who, like Sinema, opposes elimination of the legislative filibuster, the procedural maneuver that requires 60 votes to end debate on bills in the 100-member chamber.
The meetings were about Biden’s infrastructure plan, which he has described as a “once-in-a-generation investment” in the United States.
Corporate tax increases would primarily pay for the plan, which aims to upgrade the nation’s brick-and-mortar infrastructure, such as roads, airports and bridges, while expanding services to “human infrastructure,” by broadening care for seniors and others.
Sinema, an Arizona Democrat whose support is crucial to the Biden agenda in a 50-50 split Senate, has not specifically weighed in on the nuts-and-bolts of Biden’s proposal.
She has called broadly for various upgrades, including to rural broadband, to aging water systems, and to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
