Infrastructure bill fails first vote; Senate to try again
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans rejected an effort Wednesday to begin debate on the big infrastructure deal that a bipartisan group of senators brokered with President Joe Biden, but pressure was mounting as supporters insisted they just needed more time before another vote possibly next week.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had scheduled the procedural vote to nudge along negotiations that have dragged for weeks. But Republicans mounted a filibuster, saying the bipartisan group still had a few unresolved issues and needed to review the final details. They sought a delay until Monday.
“We have made significant progress and are close to a final agreement,” the bipartisan group of senators, 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats, said in a joint statement after the vote. The senators said they were optimistic they could finish up “in the coming days.”
The nearly $1 trillion measure over five years includes about $579 billion in new spending on roads, broadband and other public works projects — a first phase of Biden’s infrastructure agenda, to be followed by a much broader $3.5 trillion measure from Democrats next month.
Biden's top priority is at a critical juncture, posing a test of his ability to forge bipartisan cooperation in Washington and make investments the White House views as crucial to the nation's ability to pull out of the COVID-19 crisis and spur economic growth.
The president traveled to Ohio later Wednesday to promote his economic policies, and was calling his infrastructure agenda a “blue-collar blueprint for building an American economy back.” He has said that Americans overwhelmingly support his plan.
However, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said Biden's big spending is “the last thing American families need.”
The party-line vote blocked the bill from advancing, 51-49, and fell far short of the 60 votes required under Senate rules. Schumer switched his vote to “no” at the end, a procedural step that would allow him to move to quickly reconsider.
The bipartisan group has labored for days with Biden aides to strike a deal, which would be a first phase of the president's eventual $4 trillion-plus package of domestic outlays — not just for roads and bridges, but foundations of everyday life including child care, family tax breaks, education and an expansion of Medicare for seniors.
The next steps are uncertain, but the bipartisan group insists it is close to a deal and expects to finish soon.
“We’re voting no today because we’re not ready, but we’re saying we do want to take up this bill as soon as we are,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a leader of the effort. “I think that’ll be Monday.”
At least 11 Republicans signed on to a letter to Schumer saying they would vote yes to proceed on Monday, if certain details about the package are ready.
Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana was among the Republicans who signed the letter and said he was “cautiously optimistic” they can reach a bipartisan deal.
Restless Democrats, who are facing a crowded calendar while trying to deliver on Biden's priorities, nevertheless said they are willing to wait if a deal is within reach.
"I’m willing to give it another chance next week,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “But we need to fish or cut bait.”
The senators in the bipartisan group were joined for a private lunch ahead of the vote by the two leaders of the House’s Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., a bipartisan group generally supportive of the effort.
Schumer said senators are in the fourth week of negotiations after reaching agreement on a broad framework for infrastructure spending with the White House. He said Wednesday's vote was no different from other times when the Senate sought to get the ball rolling on debate and “not a deadline to have every final detail worked out.”
But McConnell, who encouraged Republicans to vote against it, called the vote a “stunt” that would fail, but he emphasized senators were “still negotiating in good faith across the aisle.”
“Around here, we typically write the bills before we vote on them,” he said.
Biden has been in touch with both Democrats and Republicans for several days, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki traveling with the president Wednesday on Air Force One, said the administration was “encouraged.”
While Biden proposes paying for his proposals with a tax hike on corporations and wealthy Americans who earn more than $400,000 a year, the bipartisan group has been working almost around the clock to figure out a compromise to pay for its package, having dashed ideas for boosting the federal gas tax or strengthening the IRS to go after tax scofflaws.
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