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- Sen. Krysten Sinema doesn’t always return the White House’s calls, two sources told CNN.
- She is one of two moderate holdouts sparring with her own party over the “human infrastructure” package.
- President Joe Biden is reportedly “exasperated” at Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin’s unwillingness to move.
Sen. Krysten Sinema doesn’t always return calls from the White House, two sources told CNN.
The embattled Arizona senator, who is in a standoff with her party over the size and scope of a multi-trillion dollar “human infrastructure” package, has reportedly left President Joe Biden “exasperated” over her unwillingness to negotiate.
Biden told progressive Democrats this week that he has spent many hours with Sinema and her fellow moderate Sen. Joe Manchin trying to negotiate a final price on the reconciliation bill, but CNN sources added that the senators “don’t move.”
Sinema is one of the two moderate holdouts sparring with her party over the spending bill’s final price. While progressives are pushing for a $3.5 trillion price tag, Manchin and Sinema won’t settle for such a high sum.
Manchin has made clear that he wants a $1.5 trillion measure but reportedly said he wouldn’t rule out going as high as $2.2 trillion.
Sinema, on the other hand, has been more nebulous about her final price. Critics say that Sinema has raised no specific objections over a proposed $3.5 trillion budget that has the president’s support but has nonetheless refused to back it.
This week, the Arizona senator was confronted by her constituents, who were angered by her blocking the Biden Build Back Better agenda and for leaving Washington DC amid tense budget negotiations. Sinema was cornered in a bathroom at Arizona State University, which employs her as a lecture, as her constituents listed their demands.
Insider reached out to Sinema for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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