Buttigieg: Infrastructure, Reconciliation Bills ‘Linked in People’s Lives’ – Not Sure What Linking Them Means

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded to a question on whether the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package are linked together by saying that he’s “not sure it’s been clearly defined, other than people who are interested in the process, what that even means,” and the bills are “linked in people’s lives.” Buttigieg also said that “Congress is going to handle it according to whatever process and sequence makes sense to them.”

Co-host Joe Scarborough asked, “So, is it the position of you, is it the position of the administration, that these bills should not be linked?”

Buttigieg responded, “Look, we recognize that Congress is going to handle it according to whatever process and sequence makes sense to them. I mean, that’s one area where the minority leader is right. The president doesn’t dictate congressional processes, Congress does. But what you’re going to see is this administration, in a full-throated way, continuing to go to bat for both of these sets of things, the transportation infrastructure that I work on and the related things that are in the bipartisan package, and then the other areas. Which, by the way, we would love to see Republicans — at least some Republicans support that too. Because, around the country, you don’t have to be a Democrat to believe that corporations aren’t paying their fair share, to believe that we ought to do more on child care, health care. But we get that there is a different level of support there and we’re going to pursue both.”

Scarborough then asked, “So, what’s the administration’s current position. … Do you support the president’s statement on Saturday and is it still the administration’s policy that these bills should not be linked, the bipartisan bill should be voted on as a standalone bill?”

Buttigieg said, “What we’re saying is that both of these are good, the president expects and hopes to sign both –.”

Scarborough then cut in to ask, “I know they’re both good. But again, the question in Washington D.C. and the question that has to be answered for Republicans to decide whether they’re going to be part of this Democratic bill or not — or this bipartisan bill is whether there’s linkage, is there going to be linkage?”

Buttigieg responded, “I’m not sure it’s been clearly defined, other than people who are interested in the process, what that even means, right? I mean, is it going to be linked in the sense of this being one single piece of legislation that moves all at once? No, I don’t think it is. Is it going to be linked in terms of different members of Congress care about getting them both done? Of course. Are they linked for us? I mean, they’re linked in people’s lives. But look, they’re going to be different packages. They’re going to have a different story. That’s why we’ve been talking about it for quite a while as two tracks. I guess, not to kill the transportation metaphor, but two tracks are linked in some way, but they’re different.”

After Scarborough thanked Buttigieg for “confirming” that it’s not possible to bring both bills to the House floor at the same time, Buttigieg stated, “Look, let’s be clear, I’m not going to argue with the speaker, but we get that they’re going to move things the way they see fit. We want both of them to get to the president’s desk for his signature.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett