House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said definitively on Monday that President Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill will not be brought to the floor as a package, despite repeated calls from the White House to move on his legislation.
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“The president continues to say, ‘Pass my bill in its entirety,’ and as I’ve said from the outset, the all-or-nothing approach is just unacceptable, and I think from a purely practical standpoint, the president’s got some whipping to do on his own side of the aisle,” Cantor told reporters.
Instead, Cantor said the House will move forward on legislative initiatives in October in which there is some agreement between the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue: making permanent the 3 percent withholding provision for government contractors included in Obama’s jobs bill; passage of three long-stalled trade pacts with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea; further repeal of regulations restricting business; and a bill coming out of the Financial Services Committee that will increase small business owners’ access to capital.
“All of these things the president has spoken about and represents areas of commonality where we can boost economic growth and produce an environment for job creation,” Cantor said.
Movement on the trade bills is the most significant announcement. Aides to Cantor said a more detailed announcement was expected as early as Monday afternoon outlining how Congress will move forward on the trade pacts.
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