Obama Touts Biden Proposals in Interview Amid Congressional Negotiations: Something ‘America Desperately Needs’

The negotiations over key legislation on President Joe Biden’s policy agenda heated up this week, and now former President Barack Obama is publicly weighing in to say the U.S. “desperately needs” these proposals.

This week Congress may vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion spending plan. There has been some intra-party division between moderate and more progressive Democrats, while on Monday afternoon Republicans blocked the spending bill to fund the government and avoid a shutdown due to widespread GOP opposition to raising the debt ceiling.

Obama sat down with ABC News’ Robin Roberts for an interview airing Tuesday on Good Morning America. In a preview released by ABC, Roberts asked about this “really important moment” for Biden’s administration, noting the divide within the Democratic party.

The former president said that the Biden administration’s proposals are “something that America desperately needs.”

Obama touted what’s in the $3.5 trillion package and said, “It’s paid for by asking the wealthiest of Americans, who have benefitted incredibly over the last several decades… to pay a few percentage points more in taxes.”

“We can afford it. I put myself in this category now,” he added. Obama also said it’s not a “hardship for billionaires to pay a little bit more in taxes.”