The Republican Party was ready to endorse an abbreviated version of the infrastructure plan promoted by Joe Biden

Republicans opened the door this Sunday to support a scaled-down version of Joe Biden’s $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan, which if concentrated on physical work could signal an “easy bipartisan victory” for the President of the United States.

Biden’s US Jobs Plan – the second titanic spending initiative in ten weeks in office, after the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package – It aims to modernize the country’s public works and make its energy system greener.

But the proposal announced this week faces major hurdles in Congress amid criticism from the Republican Party and business lobbies who They oppose the corporate tax hike with which the plan is intended to fund.

Roy Blunt, the president of the Republican Political Committee of the Senate, called on Democrats to focus on the traditional pillars of infrastructure, “roads, bridges, ports and airports.”– not Biden’s larger spending plans to create jobs, tackle climate change and fight an ever stronger China.

Blunt spoke out when senior administration officials appeared on Sunday’s broadcasts to sell his project to Americans as a key to sustainable job growth.

“I spoke with the White House a few times and said, ‘You have an easy bipartisan victory here if you keep this package practically focused on infrastructure,’ the Republican official told the network’s agenda. ABC “This week”.

That would not prevent the government from pushing other aspects of its plan later with a partisan vision, he added.

The Republican senator complained that the plan contains more charging stations for electric vehicles than physical upgrades. “When people think of infrastructure, they think of roads, bridges, ports and airports”, he claimed.

Blunt, a seasoned member of the Senate leadership team, nevertheless displayed a more conciliatory tone than that of the Republican leader in the Upper House, Mitch mcconnell, who a few days earlier had promised to fight Biden’s plan “every step of the way.”

The Democratic administration frequently highlights polls that show that his plan is popular with ordinary Americans of all ideologies.

Consulted by ABC on whether it is still realistic to expect Republican support for the plan, the Transport Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, replied: “I think it can be.”

“This is a once in a lifetime moment,” he added, again citing the estimate that the project could create 19 million jobs.

“I don’t think in the next 50 years we’ll see another time we have this combination of demonstrated need, bipartisan interest, widespread impatience and a president who is committed to it,” Buttigieg said. .

Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, highlighted the long-term benefits of the plan, taking into account that the United States is still 8.4 million jobs below its pre-pandemic levels .

“We believe that we can not only have a strong rebound in employment this year,” he said on “Fox News Sunday,” “but we can maintain it for several years. This is the goal ”.

With information from AFP

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