The White House rejects the need for an agenda agreement ahead of the climate conference
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday rejected the idea that President Biden needs to reach an agreement on his economic agenda, which includes several key provisions to combat climate change, before traveling to Europe later this week to attend a climate conference .
“I think what the Allies are looking at is the effort that President Biden has made to design and now negotiate an ambitious, efficient set of investments in climate and clean energy infrastructure in the United States,” he said. Sullivan to journalists. “They are excited about it. They raise it when we see them.
“I do not think world leaders will look at this as a binary question: Has it been done? Has it not been done?” Mr. Sullivan continued, “They will say, ‘Is President Biden on his way to deliver what he said he would deliver?’ We somehow believe he is on his way to do so.”
Mr. Biden travels Thursday for a European trip that includes attending the UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, scheduled to begin on Monday.
The upcoming conference, known as COP26, is the latest in a series of self-imposed deadlines to end at least one framework for Mr. The bid’s financial spending plan of several billion dollars.
Democrats aim to include strong provisions to tackle climate change to meet Mr Biden’s goal of reducing US greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.
The White House has sought to reach agreement with Democratic lawmakers on at least the climate regulations, giving Mr. Bite leverage to negotiate similar climate commitments from other world leaders.
Still, Democrats have been in a stalemate for months with centrist senators like Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona saying the price of the proposal is too high, and progressives saying the regulations do not go far enough to fight climate change or expand the social safety net.
A key provision on climate change, a clean electricity program, is already expected to be launched from the final proposal. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday insisted nothing has been done when it comes to Mr Biden’s spending bill.
Mr. Sullivan said world leaders understand that democracy can be messy, and he does not expect the president to be in a more difficult position with world leaders if he does not have an agreement on his domestic climate change proposals.
“I think you have a sophisticated set of world leaders who understand the politics of their own country and understand American democracy and recognize that it takes time to work through complex far-reaching negotiations on some of the largest investments in modern memory in the United States. ” he said.
Meanwhile, the White House is still struggling to reach an agreement.
Ms. Psaki said the president will host more lawmakers in the White House on Tuesday and possibly more members on Wednesday. She noted that Mr Biden has built “flexibility” into his schedule to meet with or call members of Congress.
She added that if an agreement is not reached when Mr Biden leaves, he will continue to negotiate abroad.
“There are phones on Air Force One and he will continue to be engaged throughout the trip,” she said.
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