Senate Moves Closer to Passing Infrastructure Bill
Lawmakers moved forward on procedural votes on a bipartisan basis
WASHINGTON—The roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill cleared a final set of procedural hurdles in the Senate, putting the legislation on track to easily pass the chamber in the coming days.
While Republicans and Democrats disagreed throughout the weekend on how to consider additional amendments to the legislation, they moved forward with procedural votes on a bipartisan basis. As many as 19 Republicans joined with Democrats on the various procedural motions.
The bill will face a more complicated path in the House, where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has said she wouldn’t bring it up until the Senate also passes a $3.5 trillion antipoverty and climate bill.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) is also pushing for Democrats to approve the budget outline for the $3.5 trillion package in the coming days.
“We can get this done the easy way or the hard way. In either case, the Senate will stay in session until we finish our work. It’s up to my Republican colleagues how long it takes,” Mr. Schumer said.
Republican support for the infrastructure bill remained robust even after Congress’s nonpartisan scorekeeping found that it would add $256 billion to the deficit over 10 years. The estimate contradicted bill negotiators’ claims that its cost was fully covered with savings and new revenue.
But that finding from the Congressional Budget Office did inflame existing opposition from some Republicans to the bill, complicating efforts to quickly wrap up the amendment process.
A spokesman for Sen. Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.) said earlier this week that he “cannot in good conscience agree to expedite a process immediately after the CBO confirmed that the bill would add over a quarter of a trillion dollars to the deficit.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) voted in favor of the procedural vote and called for the Senate to consider additional amendments.
“The American people need roads, bridges, ports, and airports to build their businesses, build their families, and build their lives,” he said. “Republicans and Democrats have radically different visions these days, but both those visions include physical infrastructure that works for our citizens.”
The bill provides $550 billion in new funding on top of money authorized for existing federal infrastructure programs. Of that $550 billion, $65 billion is dedicated to expanding access to broadband, $110 billion will go toward rebuilding bridges and roads, and $55 billion is aimed at water infrastructure. Repurposing Covid-19 aid and delaying a Trump-era Medicare rebate rule are among the sources of funds for covering the cost of the plan.
Among the amendments lawmakers were grappling with were those related to a measure that seeks to raise money through tougher tax enforcement of cryptocurrency transactions. Dueling groups of senators have proposed amendments seeking to clarify how the bill defines a broker, which the legislation would require to report gains reaped to the Internal Revenue Service.
Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) said he had made changes to the cryptocurrency amendment that he has proposed with Sens. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) and Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.). Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), one of the authors of the other amendment, said talks were continuing on the issue.