President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators have reached a deal on an infrastructure package that includes $559 billion in new spending.
The funds are targeted at centrists priorities like upgradings roads, bridges, electrical grids, water delivery systems and broadband services. But Biden was forced to jettison a progressive wishlist that includes investments in child care, education, and paid family leave.
“Let me be clear: neither side got everything they want in this deal. That’s what it means to compromise,” said Biden at the White House on Thursday afternoon. “And it reflects something important – it reflects consensus. The heart of democracy,” Biden added.
Negotiations on infrastructure spending – and an argument on what exactly ‘infrastructure’ means – have dragged on for months. Biden, who prizes bipartisanship, has steadily reduced the size of his ask to attract Republican lawmakers. Likely gone, too, is a sizable increase in the corporate tax rate to fund the new spending.
“We devoted far too much time competing with one another, and not enough time competing with the rest of the world,” said Biden.
“We’ve agreed on the price tag, the scope, and how to pay for it,” said Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), but she did not provide details. Biden said taxes will not be raised on Americans making less than $400,000 annually.
But now Democrats might defect, imperiling the new framework.
Progressives, in particular, say “human infrastructure” initiatives like free community college and nutrition assistance to children in poverty must be tackled in a separate reconciliation bill. They’re particularly peeved that climate change resilience and mitigation have been removed from the infrastructure proposal.
“There ain’t no infrastructure bill without the reconciliation bill,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly said on a phone call with House members on Thursday morning.
“All parties understand, we won’t get enough votes to pass either unless we have enough votes to pass both,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor this morning.
Biden said he “will not rest until both get to [his] desk.” He later added that he won’t sign one bill without the other.
When a reporter asked him if he had the votes to pass the bipartisan package, Biden said he “can’t guarantee it.”
It’s unclear if Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell supports the new bipartisan infrastructure deal. Sen. Rob Portman, of Ohio, was the lead Republican negotiator in the new talks. He says McConnell is keeping an open mind.
