House Democratic Whip Clyburn Admits Doubt About Spending Plans: ‘I Questioned as to Whether or Not $3.5 Trillion Could Be Paid For’

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) acknowledged Friday that he harbored doubts about the price tag attached to spending proposals from congressional Democrats.

“I don’t think that anyone ever thought that after doing the rescue plan of over a trillion dollars, that we would come back with a $6 trillion program,” Clyburn said in an interview MSNBC’s Craig Melvin, observing that there would be “no way to pay” for a $6 trillion proposal. “And you may recall, I questioned as to whether or not $3.5 trillion could be paid for,” he added. “In fact, I said at the time that I thought that somewhere between $1.5 and $3.5, we’ll be able to find a sweet spot. And that — it seems to be what’s taken place now. We are close to finding the sweet spot. It will be between those two numbers.”

House Democrats in August passed a $3.5 trillion spending proposal on President Joe Biden’s behalf, but it has stalled in the Senate due to opposition from Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and Joe Manchin (WV). At the same time, Democrats are seeking to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal.

“Let’s just say that what they do is reflect the diversity of our caucus,” Clyburn said, arguing that the party was being “transparent” in debating the proposals. “That’s why I think it’s very important for us to talk about what it is we’re trying to get accomplished rather than what the price tag might be, because that price tag will be affected by whether or not it’s ten years or three years or something in between.”

Watch above via MSNBC.