The White House announces a “potential agreement” on infrastructure talks

The White House said a “potential deal” was reached with bipartisan negotiators in Congress over an infrastructure investment package expected to exceed $ 1 billion, in a move that could advance a basic piece of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.

After days of talks between senior Biden administration officials and a group of Democratic and Republican centrist senators on Capitol Hill, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday afternoon that an agreement could be reached. .

“Senior White House staff have had two productive meetings today with the bipartisan group of senators who have been negotiating over infrastructure,” Psaki said. “The group has moved towards drafting a potential deal and the chair has invited the group to come to the White House tomorrow to discuss it in person.”

The agreement being discussed would increase funding for physical activities infrastructures including roads, bridges and broadband networks, but would fall far short of the broader $ 2.3 million infrastructure plan presented by Biden in late March.

Republicans have refused to pay it by raising it corporation taxes as proposed by the White House, so any agreement is expected to be based on the redistribution of unused pandemic stimulus funds and other sources of revenue to cover the cost. However, the final details are uncertain.

Even if an agreement is reached between the moderate senators and the White House, it could be difficult to get approval in Congress. The leadership of both sides should accept this so that it can withstand the defections of Republicans who opposed any new spending and Progressive Democrats who believe it is not enough to correct the problems affecting the aging American infrastructure. and addressing climate change.

“We can’t let the infrastructure train leave the station without investing in childcare and net energy – or without making billionaires and giant corporations pay their fair share of taxes, ”Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, wrote Wednesday.

If approved, the reduced bipartisan infrastructure package is still expected to be followed by a more ambitious and costly effort by Biden to approve the rest of its economic agenda, with a minimum value of $ 3 billion more. , only with Democratic votes in Congress.

This would cover long-term investments in child care, education, research and development and other democratic priorities to restructure the economy, which are expected to be paid for with higher taxes about rich people and corporations.

However, Biden’s party has a very narrow majority in the House of Representatives and has a uniformly divided Senate advantage because Kamala Harris, vice president, casts unequal votes. This presents a complicated political balance for Biden, as any package should satisfy both sides of his party.

A bipartisan infrastructure package worth more than $ 1 million would represent a major legislative victory for the president, who asserted his ability to reach agreements with Republicans during his 2020 election campaign. moderates can still push for agreements on Capitol Hill if there is enough political will behind the effort, despite high levels of polarization in Congress.

Biden had initially tried to negotiate only with a group of Republican senators, but those talks collapsed earlier this month. Bipartisan lawmakers who picked up the mantle include Mitt Romney, the Utah senator, and Rob Portman, the Ohio senator. On the Democratic side, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema led the talks.