Back in Washington for the first full week since his diplomatic engagements in Europe, President Joe Biden is once again turning his focus to infrastructure negotiations and legislative priorities such as voting rights, after senators on Capitol Hill have submitted counter proposals in recent weeks.

What You Need To Know

  • Back in Washington, President Joe Biden is once again turning his focus to infrastructure negotiations and other legislative priorities

  • The White House Press Secretary said she expects the president to have multiple meetings about infrastructure this week

  • Voting rights are also on the president's radar, and the Senate will vote on Democrats' sweeping voting bill Tuesday as an initial test of support

  • This week, the president will take a closer look at a bipartisan group of senators' infrastructure proposal, which they're expected to outline in more detail in the coming days

On Monday, the White House Press Secretary said the president would begin conversations about infrastructure with lawmakers Monday afternoon and continue them throughout the week.

Last week, a bipartisan group of ten senators announced their own $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure package, calling it a “compromise framework,” and Biden is set to take a closer look this week.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she expects at least one in-person meeting on infrastructure at the White House in the coming days.

“Having served 36 years in the Senate, he's always going to be deeply involved, he's always going to roll up his sleeves,” Psaki said Monday.

Another major piece of legislation in focus this week is the For the People Act, the sweeping voting rights bill proposed by Democrats that will get a test vote on Tuesday in the Senate. It’s expected to fail, but it will be used as a measure of where the majority stands. 

Psaki said the president is also attuned to that issue and that he’s spoken with lawmakers about the bill in recent weeks, including Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, who proposed changes to Democrats’ voting bill last week.

“This will be a fight of his presidency,” she said Monday, also noting Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in overseeing the voting rights effort across the country.

Both pieces of legislation would require getting moderate Democrats and several Republicans on board, a process that will play out over the coming weeks.

To that end, President Biden met seperately with moderate Senate Democrats Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., a White House official announced later Monday. The president discussed voting rights and infrastructure with the West Virginia Senator, while discussing the bipartisan infrastructure negotiations with the Arizona lawmaker later in the afternoon.

The president told the lawmakers was "encouraged by what has taken shape but that he still has questions about the policy as well as the means for financing the bipartisan group’s proposal," the official said.

"The President also made clear that he is at the same time focused on budget resolution discussions in the Senate," the official said, adding that "they agreed to stay in touch over the coming days."

On NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Republican Senator Rob Portman said that GOP lawmakers are “absolutely committed” to a bipartisan deal and that the vote was growing “from the middle out.”

One issue to watch for during infrastructure talks is the way that the bill will be paid for. 

President Biden has said he does not want any taxes raised on Americans making $400,000 or less, including via a gas tax. The details of the bipartisan senators’ proposal are still being fleshed out, but it’s possible they may include tax hikes or fees.

Voting rights will also require significant negotiation after Sen. Manchin’s proposed changes last week, which would narrow the original For the People Act while keeping some of its core ideas, such as making Election Day a holiday. Some Democrats, such as Stacey Abrams, immediately signaled openness, while progressives said his tweaks made the bill too limited.

“I am not prepared to vote for Manchin’s proposal," Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones of New York told Spectrum News. "I am deeply concerned with what the research shows to be very burdensome voter ID requirements that make it particularly difficult for Black and brown and lower income and young people in this country to vote. This is a solution in search of a problem.”

Timing-wise, the president acknowledges that his legislative priorities will take time, the press secretary said Monday, but he’s looking for an agreement as soon as possible, especially on infrastructure.

“It is not weeks in his view,” Psaki said, instead pointing to meetings likely to happen over the next few days.