People want us to get things done,' Biden says in response to election losses
President Joe Biden on Wednesday reiterated
calls for his own party to move hastily on his legislative agenda following a punishing election night for Democrats.
"People want us to get things done," Biden said when asked about former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's upset loss in the battleground. "They want us to get things done. And that's why I'm continuing to push very hard for the Democratic Party to move along and pass my infrastructure bill and my Build Back Better bill."
When asked if he bore any of the blame for the loss in Virginia, Biden demurred.
"It should have passed before Election Day," Biden said of his agenda. "But I'm not sure that I would be able to have changed the number of very conservative folks who turned out and the red districts who were Trump voters."
Democratic lawmakers appear to be feeling the pressure. On Wednesday, some said it was more urgent than ever to pass Biden's legislative agenda, pointing to a lack of deliverables they say may have soured voters on Tuesday.
Democrats have been paralyzed on a path forward for Biden's social spending plan and a separate massive bipartisan infrastructure bill for months. Senators say McAuliffe's loss and the razor-thin margin in New Jersey's gubernatorial race are voter responses to that inaction.
"Democrats let Terry down," Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine said Wednesday. "If we had done the infrastructure and reconciliation bills in October that we will almost certainly do by the end of the month, it would have been extremely helpful to him because it would have meant that Democrats are doers, Democrats deliver things that people care about in suburban communities."
Democrats have struggled for months to find their way out of a complex political maze they set for themselves in the face of unified Republican opposition to Biden's social spending agenda. Earlier this year, leadership tied a $1 trillion infrastructure package that includes funding for roads, bridges, waterways and broadband, to a separate social spending package that was yet to be drafted. They vowed one would not progress without the other.
The Senate passed the $1 trillion infrastructure package in August, but it is still negotiating over the social spending package. The House has not yet held a vote on either bill as a result. It may finally vote on both packages as early as this week -- too late to impact Tuesday's election results.