President Joe Biden named five “jobs Cabinet” members to help pitch his infrastructure plan.
Mcconnell vows GOP will aim to block effort
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden set about convincing America it needs his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan on Thursday, deputizing a five-member “jobs Cabinet” to help in the effort. But the vastness of his task was clear as Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell’s vowed to oppose the plan “every step of the way.”
Speaking in Kentucky, Mcconnell said he personally likes Biden and they’ve been friends a long time. But the president will get no cooperation from the GOP, which objects to the corporate tax increases in the plan and says they would hurt America’s ability to compete in a global economy.
Biden told his Cabinet at its first meeting that he is enlisting several of them to help with the push: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
“Working with my team here at the White House, each Cabinet member will represent me in dealings with Congress, engage the public in selling the plan and help organize the details as we refine it and move forward,” Biden said.
Biden also directed the entire Cabinet to examine agency spending to ensure it follows his “Buy American” commitment.
Biden’s first Cabinet meeting looked and felt different from those of his predecessor.
Biden’s full Cabinet met Thursday in the spacious White House East Room, not the comparatively cramped West Wing room that bears the group’s name, to allow for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Many smaller tables were pushed together to create one gigantic square. Department secretaries and other participants wore face masks.