President Biden on Thursday all but admitted defeat on his original plan to pass $2.3 trillion in infrastructure spending — agreeing instead to a bipartisan deal to spend $1.2 trillion over eight years.
But Biden quickly created confusion by saying that he might not even sign the deal amid blowback from fellow Democrats.
The bipartisan compromise outraged some in Biden’s own party who threatened to block the bill unless they could add back tax hikes and social spending in a massive second bill.
Asked about pushback, Biden said that although he said moments earlier that “we have a deal,” he won’t sign it without a supplemental second package.
Biden announced the deal alongside senators on the White House driveway. “I clearly didn’t get all I wanted. They gave more than I think maybe they were inclined to give in the first place.”
But later in remarks in the White House East Room, Biden said that he would not necessarily sign the bill unless Democrats passed tax hikes and social spending in a supplemental bill rammed through without Republican votes using budget reconciliation rules.
“If they don’t come, I’m not signing it. Real simple,” Biden said.
“I expect that in the coming months this summer before the fiscal year is over, that we will have voted on this bill — the infrastructural bill — as well as voted on the budget resolution,” he said. “But if only one comes to me. I’m not — if this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it. It’s in tandem.”
The bill is expected to cost about $1.2 trillion over eight years, with $973 billion in the first five years. About $579 billion in new spending would flow to projects such as roads and bridges, with the rest being redirected.
Biden gave an overview in the afternoon speech, saying the bill would include “the largest investment in rail since the creation of Amtrak” and upgrade “the power grid to be more energy efficient and resilient… and be able to sustain extreme weather and the climate crisis.”
A White House release said the compromise includes $109 billion for roads and bridges, $66 billion for passenger and freight rail, $65 billion for broadband internet, $55 billion for water infrastructure, $49 billion for public transport, $47 billion for infrastructure resilience, $25 billion for airports, $7.5 billion for electric buses and $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations.
Biden’s original plan called for $400 billion for home and community health care and $174 billion to subsidize electric vehicles. Neither made the cut.
Biden acknowledged that Republican opposition blocked some of his farther-reaching plans to boost social spending via tax hikes on businesses and higher incomes.
But after initially seeming to also concede defeat not only on infrastructure but on a supplemental $1.8 trillion “families” plan, Biden clarified in his post-announcement speech that he will still work on pushing through that plan.
On the driveway, Biden said: “I understand their position — Republicans and this group did not want to go along with many of my family plan issues, the child care tax credits, the human infrastructure I talked about.”
But in his subsequent cleanup, Biden said in the White House East Room: “I’m getting to work with Congress right away on the other half of my economic agenda as well, the American Families Plan.”
Many Democrats say they aren’t happy with the compromise and that they want to guarantee that more divisive items are resurrected and jammed through Congress without Republicans via budget reconciliation. But it’s possible Democrats won’t be able to muster 50 votes in the evenly divided Senate due to concerns among their own party.
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) led the 21-senator group that on Wednesday agreed on the broad outlines of the compromise before gaining Biden’s support.
“We’ve agreed on the price tag, the scope and how to pay for it. It was not easy to get agreement on all three,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). “It sends an important message to the world as well that America can function, can get things done.”
With enough Republicans on board in the Senate to get over the 60-vote threshold, the biggest threat to the deal comes from within Biden’s own party — with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) slamming the plan as “paltry” and “pathetic.”
The announcement followed a brief meeting between Biden and a group of 10 senators including Sinema, Portman and Collins.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) joined Biden at the White House to finalize the deal.
The other five Republicans who signed on to support the deal are Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
But Democrats already are threatening to reject the compromise.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a press conference Thursday that she will block a bipartisan bill if the Senate doesn’t first pass a second and more contentious bill packed with tax hikes and social spending via budget reconciliation rules that allow for a simple majority in the Senate.
“Let me be really clear on this: We will not take up a bill in the House until the Senate passes the bipartisan bill and a reconciliation bill. If there is no bipartisan bill, then we’ll just go when the Senate passes a reconciliation bill,” Pelosi said at a press conference.
But Manchin, who can single-handedly derail a budget reconciliation bill in the evenly divided Senate, said Thursday he’s not necessarily on board.
“We have to see what’s in the other plan before I can say, ‘Oh yes, you vote for this and I’ll vote for that.’ That’s not what I have signed up for. I only signed up for what’s in the plan that makes sense, keeps us competitive and also takes care of the needs of Americans,” Manchin said.