President Biden, senator group reach an agreement on $1.2T infrastructure bill, but GOP does not like what it’s tied to

Written by RT&S Staff
Honolulu rail
President Biden’s deal with a group of senators might not be strong enough.
Musashi1600 [CC BY 3.0 us (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], from Wikimedia Commons

President Biden appeared confident about signing an infrastructure bill into law after meeting with a group of senators on June 24.

However, what’s tied to the deal may add some miles to the measure’s journey to the White House.

The president told reporters that a deal was done on an eight-year, $1.22 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, but added the only way he would sign it into law is if it is connected to what he wants in his American Families Plan. That measure commits $1.8 trillion in federal spending on education, children, and other areas. Meanwhile, the House was supposed to work on its long-term infrastructure bill this week.

Many Republicans have said the packaged deal (an infrastructure bill and the American Families Plan) is a deal breaker. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tweeted that “if reports are accurate that President Biden is refusing a partisan deal (infrastructure bill) unless reconciliation (American Families Plan) is also passed, that would be the ultimate deal breaker for me.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also expressed disappointment in the arrangement. McConnell said GOP senators were looking forward to passing a bipartisan infrastructure bill, but the latest development could stall negotiations. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives will most likely pass the reconciliation bill whether or not it is associated with an infrastructure bill, which could lead Republicans to reject the infrastructure measure in an effort to put everything on the shoulders of the Democrats.

The $1.22 trillion infrastructure bill calls for $559 billion in new spending, and includes $66 billion for railways and another $49 billion for public transportation. President Biden and the group of senators not only worked out an agreement, but also figured out how to pay for it.

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