The White House said no deadline has been set for bipartisan talks on a compromise infrastructure package, but House Democrats said they are ready to move ahead without Republicans if a deal can’t be struck by the end of next week.
After a meeting of House Democrats with administration officials including White House counselor Steve Ricchetti Tuesday, House Budget Chair John Yarmuth said the administration was “giving it a week or 10 days and then we move along with reconciliation,” referring to fast-track legislation that doesn’t need GOP support to pass.
Yarmuth’s interpretation was echoed by several other Democrats.
However, a White House spokesman said Ricchetti told them the timeframe was more to assess where negotiations were heading.
“He said that we are certainly going to know where things stand on infrastructure talks generally in the next week to 10 days, and that we can then take stock overall — but did not set a deadline or cutoff,” administration spokesman Andrew Bates said.
A group of five GOP and five Democratic senators, led by Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, has been wrangling in recent days to refine a tentative compromise to move an infrastructure package through Congress using regular rules. After announcing an agreement and top-line spending levels, they have so far failed to release a detailed proposal, with talks continuing on funding mechanisms and how the money is to be allocated among projects.
The timeline is compressing quickly, with the Senate set to leave town on June 24 for nearly three weeks for the Independence Day recess.
The five Republicans from the bipartisan group briefed the full Senate Republican conference Tuesday on their plan in the hopes of attracting at least the five more Republican votes it would need to clear the Senate under the normal legislative process — where 60 total votes are needed.
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell has not yet weighed in on the substance of the group’s plan, saying Monday he saw a 50-50 chance of a deal.
‘Very optimistic’
Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, a member of the bipartisan group, said he is “very optimistic we’ll get at least 10 Republicans to support the plan.”
He said a text may be released as soon as Wednesday.
GOP senators were generally supportive of the effort, with caveats.
Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who led talks with President Joe Biden on infrastructure before the administration ended them last week without a deal, said she likely would support the bipartisan plan. “But I haven’t seen all the details,” she added.
Texas Senator John Cornyn also said he wanted to see more details.
“But it’s kind of a moot point unless there’s agreement between Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “If they actually reach an agreement — if it has some chance of getting to the floor — I’ll be all over it.”
Gauging confidence
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, another GOP member of the bipartisan group, said it should be clear by next week whether a deal can be struck. “I don’t think this is going to hang out there forever, whether we are able to get people on board or not,” he said.
Yarmuth said he was “confident” that House Democrats will have the votes to proceed with a budget resolution that kick-starts the reconciliation process — the legislative tool that allows for a simple majority vote in the Senate. At the same time, Yarmuth said he was not “overly confident.”
“The White House made clear to us in our conversations today that we are going to take a two-track approach,” House Democratic caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. “The Senate on the Republican side is either going to choose to work with us or choose the way of Mitch McConnell.”
“If they choose the obstruction pathway, then we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to pass the American Jobs Plan,” Jeffries said.
Progressives anxious
Meanwhile, progressive Democrats are growing impatient with the talks, and say they’re concerned that their priorities will get short-changed.
Democratic Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal said she’s worried about a small-scale infrastructure bill that only leaves a vague promise about acting on Biden’s more expansive plans on climate and social programs later. She said she wants a simultaneous reconciliation package for those if there is a bipartisan deal.
The bipartisan proposal calls for $579 billion in net new spending beyond outlays that Congress was already expected to enact — but well below the $1.7 trillion in new spending Biden has publicly called for.
The talks come amid intensifying angst among Democrats about how to proceed on Biden’s long-term economic plans.
Sinema and group member Joe Manchin are key to both the bipartisan deal and any hopes Democrats have of doing a budget bill ,which would require all 50 Democratic caucus members to vote for it in the Senate. The two moderate Democrats have insisted on exploring a bipartisan deal before committing to doing the social spending parts of Biden’s agenda — including subsidized child and elder care along with free community college — through the budget process.
Jayapal said Tuesday that her group is pushing for a $6 trillion to $10 trillion total package, including expansion of Medicare and cuts in drug prices. She said “of course” House Democrats will be able to resolve differences on policy to get a reconciliation budget bill in the coming two months.
“Look at the American Rescue Plan. We got that done,” she said, referring to the $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan that passed without GOP support in March.
Democrats said that they are confident that a large infrastructure package gets enacted before Congress’s August recess.
“It’s very clear that we are moving forward one way or another,” said California’s Jackie Speier.
Oregon’s Earl Bluemenauer said Democrats from the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee met Monday to map out tax increases to pay for a bill, even as they allow more time for bipartisan talks.
“We can’t leave for the summer without getting this done,” said Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell.
— With assistance from Billy House
