Biden plan to link infrastructure deal with second Bill irks Republicans

WASHINGTON • Hours after President Joe Biden declared that "we have a deal" to renew the infrastructure of the United States, the Senate's top Republican lashed out at plans to follow the US$1.2 trillion (S$1.6 trillion) bipartisan Bill with another measure funding what Democrats call "human infrastructure".

Mr Biden and top congressional Democrats - House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer - had long signalled their plan to link the bipartisan deal with another Bill including spending on home healthcare and childcare.

The second measure would be passed through a Senate manoeuvre called reconciliation, which would allow it to take effect without Republican votes.

Mr Biden told reporters at the White House that he expected quick action on both measures, or neither would survive.

"I expect that in the coming months this summer, before the fiscal year is over, that we will have voted on this (bipartisan) Bill - the infrastructure Bill - as well as voted on the budget resolution," he said. "But if only one comes to me, I'm not signing it. It's in tandem."

That drew a harsh response from Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"Less than two hours after publicly commending our colleagues and actually endorsing the bipartisan agreement, the President took the extraordinary step of threatening to veto it," Mr McConnell said on the Senate floor. "It almost makes your head spin."

Mr McConnell, Mrs Pelosi and Mr Schumer have not been directly involved with the bipartisan infrastructure talks. Mr McConnell has not publicly stated if he would back the initiative, though he called it "encouraging" in his floor remarks.

Mr Lindsey Graham, one of the 21 senators who had negotiated the bipartisan deal, said in a tweet: "If reports are accurate that President Biden is refusing to sign a bipartisan deal unless reconciliation is also passed, that would be the ultimate deal breaker for me."

Progressive members of Congress - some of whom were pushing for a sweeping US$6 trillion Bill - had indicated they would not support the smaller bipartisan Bill without a companion measure.

The US$1.2 trillion framework includes US$579 billion in new spending on major investments in the power grid, broadband Internet services and passenger and freight rail. The eight-year proposal contains US$109 billion for roads, bridges and major projects; US$73 billion for power infrastructure; US$66 billion for passenger and freight rail; US$65 billion for broadband access; US$49 billion for public transit; and US$25 billion for airports, according to a White House statement.

That spending falls far short of Mr Biden's original ambitions on schools, climate change mitigation, and support for parents and caregivers, and it does not include his bedrock pledge to make the US economy more fair by increasing taxes on the rich and corporations.

Mr Biden vowed to move "full steam ahead" on those priorities. The compromise package would be paid for through more than a dozen funding mechanisms, including US$100 billion in estimated tax revenues from a ramp-up in enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service, unused Covid-19 aid money, unemployment insurance funds returned by US states, and oil sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Mr Schumer said he supported the outline of the deal, but wanted to see the details. He also said the US$1.2 trillion Bill focused on physical infrastructure would not get the Democratic votes needed to pass it without an accompanying package tackling social issues, including home healthcare.

"All parties understand, we won't get enough votes to pass either, unless we have enough votes to pass both," Mr Schumer said on the Senate floor.

He said the Senate would aim for a vote on the bipartisan plan next month. REUTERS