Schumer tries to push through bipartisan bill

A $ 1,000 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill was circulating in the Senate on Wednesday as Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to delay the August chamber recess until it is passed.

The Senate will resume votes on the “multiple” amendments to the plan on Wednesday afternoon, the New York Democrat said. Schumer aims to approve final legislation this week, before starting the process for Democrats to pass a separate $ 3.5 trillion investment in social programs and climate action.

The Senate is due to leave for its month-long vacation on Monday. The chamber seems unlikely to approve both the infrastructure plan and a budget resolution – which allows them to approve their spending plan without Republican votes – before then.

Schumer said Tuesday that “the Senate will stay here until we finish our work” on the two measures. Republicans called for a slower process of debate and amendment of the bill: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said he would have blocked a potential attempt by Schumer to end debate on legislation if he tried to take the plunge on Tuesday.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia and one of the bill’s negotiators, told NBC News on Wednesday that he believed the amendment process could be completed as early as Thursday evening. Senator Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware who manages the debate, told NBC he will not hurry to shut down the amendment process.

“I don’t think there is a rush to judgment just to close the debate,” he said on Wednesday. “We are giving people the opportunity to propose their amendments, and I hope we will continue with the kind of spirit that we have already shown.”

Barring a GOP shake-up, the bill appears to be on the verge of passage with over 60 votes needed for approval. Democratic and GOP supporters of the proposal are calling it a late investment in transportation, broadband and utilities that will shake the economy as the country tries to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

It includes $ 550 billion in new spending on roads, bridges, airports, ports, electric vehicle charging stations, the internet, water systems and electricity, among other policies.

Many Democrats have been pushing for their second spending plan as they try to support households through the expansion of child care, paid time off, education and health care. Party lawmakers also claimed the infrastructure plan was not doing enough to reduce emissions and prepare buildings and transit systems for the effects of climate change.

As they prepare to pass the infrastructure bill with Democrats, Republicans have opposed the proposed $ 3.5 trillion in new spending. McConnell called it “reckless” on Tuesday.

No matter how fast the Senate moves this week, neither plan will reach President Joe Biden’s office for at least a month and a half. The House has left for its August vacation and is not expected to return until September 20.

In order to keep centrists and progressives skeptics on board with both strands of her party’s platform, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Has said she will not pass the bills on the infrastructure or budget reconciliation until the Senate passes both.

A single defection would sink the Democrats’ bill in the 50-50 split-party Senate. If only a handful of Democrats vote against in the House, that could also fail.

Democrats aim to bring both bills to Biden’s office before Washington’s attention turns to the midterm elections early next year.

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