Late nights, early mornings await Senate on infrastructure – KIRO 7 News Seattle

WASHINGTON – (AP) –

The senators were back at work on Sunday, working to pass a bipartisan infrastructure package worth $ 1 trillion.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., told his colleagues that they could go the “easy way” or the “hard way” while some GOP senators seemed determined to pass the clock for days.

“We will continue until we have this bill ready,” said Schumer.

The move would provide what Biden called a “historic investment” in public works programs – roads, bridges, broadband internet access, drinking water and more. In a rare blow of bipartisanism, Republicans joined the Democrats on Saturday to push the move forward. If the bill is approved, it goes to the House of Representatives.

“We are on the verge of seeing this move in the Senate,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, citing “a remarkable coalition” made up of business, labor and lawmakers from both parties. “I think we’re about to do that.”

Despite this overwhelming support, momentum stalled when a handful of Republican senators refused to allow hours of debate before the next procedural vote. This opposition delayed what supporters had hoped it would happen quickly and, in a day-long drudgery, organized late-night and early morning sessions. The last passage would be postponed to Tuesday.

Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., A negotiator on the bill, said about 17 to 18 Republicans have said they support the bill, which would ensure it passed if it passed. “It could be faster, but it can be done,” said Cassidy, adding, “And that’s the good thing, it works.”

Senators met for the second straight weekend to work on Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Bill, the first of Biden’s two infrastructure packages. Once the vote is over, Senators will immediately move on to the draft budget for a $ 3.5 trillion package of childcare, elderly care, and other programs, which is a much more partisan endeavor and is expected to receive only Democratic support.

Senator Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., An ally of Donald Trump and the former president’s ambassador to Japan, was among those leading efforts to take as much time as necessary to debate and change bipartisan law .

“There is absolutely no need to rush,” Hagerty said during a speech on Saturday.

Trump issued a statement criticizing Biden, the senators from both parties, and the bill itself, though it wasn’t clear whether the former president’s views were affecting lawmakers.

Biden, who spent the weekend in Delaware, said the bipartisan package offered an investment on par with building the transcontinental railroad or interstate highway system.

Overcoming the 60-vote barrier was a sign that the weak alliance between Republicans and Democrats was able to hold on to the public building package. A total of 18 Republicans joined the Democrats in the 67-27 vote to push the measure past a filibuster.

Senate Republican chairman Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has so far allowed the bill to move forward despite the broadsides and abuse of the former president. His vote on Saturday – another “yes” – was closely watched. “That’s a compromise,” said McConnell.

The Senators processed nearly two dozen amendments to the 2,700-page package in the past week, but so far none have made any significant changes to its framework.

More amendments could be discussed on Sunday, with Senators considering revisions to a section on cryptocurrency, a protracted effort by Defense Hawks to add $ 50 billion for defense-related infrastructure, and a bipartisan change to address some of the unused COVID-19 -Reuse aid that had been sent to the States.

Another important procedural vote has been scheduled for late Sunday.

Senators have taken a lot of pleasure in the bill, even if it does not entirely satisfy liberals who feel it is too small or conservatives who think it is too big. It would provide federal funding for projects that many states and cities could not afford on their own.

Analysis of the Congressional Budget Office bill raised concerns, particularly among Republicans. It concluded that the legislation would add about $ 256 billion to the deficit over the next decade.

Proponents of the bill argued, however, that the Budget Office could not consider certain sources of income, including from future economic growth. Additional analysis released by the Budget Office on Saturday suggested that overall infrastructure spending could increase productivity and lower final costs.

Paying the package was a pressure point during months of negotiations after the Democrats opposed an increase in the gas tax paid at the pump and the Republicans opposed a plan to assist the IRS to investigate tax battles.

Unlike Biden’s larger $ 3.5 trillion package, which would be paid for through higher corporate and wealthy tax rates, the bipartisan package is funded through reallocation of other funds, including untapped COVID-19 aid, and other spending cuts and revenue streams .

The house is on hiatus and is expected to consider both of Biden’s infrastructure packages when it returns in September.

Cassidy was on CNN’s State of the Union and Buttigieg was on Fox News Sunday.

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Associate press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report.

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