npr - Scott Detrow & Tamara Keith
In what appears to be a mostly symbolic step toward finding common ground with Senate Republicans, the Biden administration has lowered its spending proposal on its infrastructure and jobs proposal, from more than $2 trillion to $1.7 trillion.
The latest figure — announced by White House press secretary Jen Psaki at Friday's press briefing, and detailed in a memo to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia that NPR obtained — is still more than $1 trillion higher than the offer Capito and other Republicans had initially made to the White House.
In fact, the $550 billion the White House has dropped from its original plan almost totals the $568 billion proposal Capito had presented to Biden last month.
