Biden, GOP Senators Continue Negotiations on Infrastructure
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President Joe Biden’s infrastructure funding agenda was scaled down by about $500 billion amid ongoing pushback from the Republican leadership in the Senate.
The White House announced on May 21 it had reduced the topline proposal for Biden’s American Jobs Plan to $1.7 trillion. The infrastructure plan’s initial figure had been $2.25 trillion. Meanwhile, Republican senators on May 27 outlined a $928 billion proposal meant as a counteroffer to Biden’s plan.
“We have come closer in terms of what we put forward,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “There’s definitely still distance. We started very far apart. But what I know is that I hear legislators, Republicans and Democrats, every day talking about their shared sense of urgency to do something.”
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki emphasized the Democrats’ new proposal maintains its aim of modernizing the country’s mobility networks and addressing concerns linked to climate change and transportation equity.
“This proposal exhibits a willingness to come down in size, giving on some areas that are important to the president, otherwise they wouldn’t have been in the proposal, while also staying firm in areas that are most vital to rebuilding our infrastructure and industries of the future, making our workforce and our country more competitive with China,” Psaki said. “The proposal also agreed to reduce the funding request for broadband to match the Republican offer and to reduce the proposed investment in roads, bridges and major projects to come closer to the number proposed by the senators.”
“This is all in the spirit of finding common ground,” she added.
Psaki explained the White House lowered its original proposal in policy areas pertaining to research and development, supply chain resilience and manufacturing industry promotion. Still, the White House plan endorses comprehensive climate proposals, such as the $174 billion long-term plan for creating a national program for electric vehicles.
To fund major aspects of the transportation system, the Biden plan calls for raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Democratic leaders have largely backed the White House’s funding strategy, and have pledged to begin advancing an infrastructure agenda in the House and Senate soon after Memorial Day.
Cedric Richmond, a senior adviser at the White House, affirmed a willingness to reach bipartisanship on infrastructure policy with Congress. On CNN on May 23 he noted: “The president coming down $550 billion off of his initiative proposal, I think, shows the willingness to negotiate in good faith and in a serious manner.”
“The real question is whether the Republicans will meet the effort that the president is showing. He came down on two areas, infrastructure and broadband, both areas that are important to him. But it’s a sincere effort to move this country forward,” Richmond added. “But the president has been very clear: Inaction is not an option.”
Republican leaders proposing nearly $1 trillion for infrastructure systems have not endorsed the White House’s modified agenda. Republicans also have not outlined a long-term funding plan for major infrastructure systems, as they continue to express opposition to Biden’s call for raising the corporate tax rate to 28% to pay for infrastructure programs. The GOP framework is a surface transportation-centric blueprint that pushes back on Biden’s comprehensive infrastructure agenda.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Senate Republicans’ chief negotiator on surface transportation matters, noted top-level bipartisanship discussions are ongoing. As she put it, “So we’re going to meet all the metrics the president himself laid out for us, and we’ll get close to his number.”
She went on, “We’re going to include a lot of the things that are important to all of us and to him in the core infrastructure space.”
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