Infrastructure bill “still under negotiation”, Republicans to block key Senate vote

Republicans will vote against a key procedural vote on Wednesday to continue debate on a bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill, chief negotiator Rob Portman told CNBC.

“We’re just not ready,” the Ohio Republican said Wednesday morning on “Squawk Box.”

“The bill is still being negotiated,” Portman said, noting that Republicans have warned for days that “there is no way to put this thing together” in time for the leader’s vote. Senate majority, Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., scheduled for later today.

“So we’re going to vote no,” Portman said. “We just want the time to get it right.”

He predicted Republicans would be able to support the vote if it was pushed back to Monday.

A spokesperson for Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Portman’s comments.

Schumer and other Democratic leaders, with the backing of President Joe Biden, seek to push forward the bipartisan infrastructure bill in tandem with a $ 3.5 trillion budget resolution that is unlikely to receive any Republican support.

The bipartisan plan, which would fund a nationwide upgrade to physical infrastructure systems such as bridges and waterways, would include $ 579 billion in new spending above a Congressional baseline and cost $ 1.2 billion. trillion dollars over eight years.

The budget resolution, meanwhile, would devote federal funds to a range of issues, including climate change and health care.

Faced with a difficult legislative timetable to achieve this “two-track” feat, Schumer has stepped up pressure on the group of senators negotiating the infrastructure bill to do away with the text of the legislation.

Schumer moved the legislative process forward on Monday night – even though the bill has yet to be drafted – by tabling a motion to proceed with a shell bill in which he can later swap the infrastructure text.

On Tuesday, Schumer rejected Republican calls to slow down the process.

Wednesday’s vote, he told the Senate, “is not an attempt to block anyone”, but rather “a signal that the Senate is ready to start the process.”

To invoke closure and spark hours of debate in the Senate, Schumer needs the support of 60 senators in a chamber split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.

Portman’s remarks on CNBC suggest that Schumer is unlikely to reach that threshold.

Schumer said Tuesday that if the vote fails, Republicans “will deny the Senate the opportunity to consider the bipartisan amendment.”

“In order to complete the bill, we must first agree to start,” he said.

This is last minute news. Please check for updates.