White House lowers infrastructure, jobs plan price to $1.7 trillion, in bid to reach bipartisan deal

The Biden administration posed a counteroffer Friday to congressional Republicans' infrastructure and jobs package, cutting the its price tag from $2.25 trillion to $1.7 trillion, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

The revised proposal reduced the funding request for broadband expansion to match the offer put forward by Republicans and shifted investments in roads, bridges and other projects out of the proposal and into other legislation  to come closer to the roughly $600 billion the Republican offering, being led by West Virginia GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, according to CNN. 

Psaki suggested the corporate tax hikes remained in the counteroffer and reiterated President Biden's belief that the wealthiest Americans and corporations can afford a modest tax hike in order to "to pay for middle class jobs," the cable news network also reports.