House will not vote on infrastructure deal until Senate passes bill

• Nancy Pelosi says the House will not vote on the bipartisan $ 1,000 billion infrastructure package until the Senate passes a separate $ 3.5 trillion package.
• “We all know more needs to be done,” she said Sunday during an appearance on ABC.
• GOP Senator Rob Portman said Pelosi’s position contradicts President Biden’s efforts to push through the bipartisan deal.

In separate appearances on ABC on Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Ohio Senator Rob Portman presented opposing views on the timeline for passing a package. bipartite infrastructure.

Pelosi has strengthened his stance to maintain the $ 1,000 billion deal as Democrats work to finalize a separate $ 3.5 trillion spending package, in the hopes that they will both be passed together.

“We want the infrastructure bill to pass, but we all know more needs to be done,” she said.

During his own interview on ABC, Portman, a Republican and one of the main negotiators of the bipartisan package, called Pelosi’s position “totally contrary” to President Joe Biden’s commitment to bipartisan efforts at the House and Senate, adding that the $ 1 trillion infrastructure bill “has nothing to do with the reckless tax and spending extravagance (Pelosi’s) we’re talking about.”

The $ 1 trillion infrastructure package contains a total of $ 579 billion in new spending on increasing nationwide broadband connections as well as upgrading bridges and roads.

Earlier in the week, however, Republican senators voted against the same infrastructure bill on which they had already reached an agreement with the White House, citing concerns over additional funding of $ 40 billion from the l ‘IRS.

According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Senator Lindsay Graham went further in encouraging Republican members to leave DC in order to prevent Senate Democrats from having the 51 senators needed to function, known as a quorum.

If Democrats are successful, the deal would total $ 4.1 trillion in new spending, making it one of the largest spending bills ever brought forward by Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Democrats’ $ 3.5 trillion package would fund expansion of social programs, including Medicare coverage for dental and vision care.

Top Senate negotiators Portman and Mitt Romney said they might be ready to vote on the $ 1,000 billion package on Monday after disagreements, including the $ 40 billion in IRS spending, have been resolved.