Senate Republicans said on Thursday they would consider an infrastructure bill about one-third the size of U.S. President Joe Bidenâs $2.3 trillion plan, which could prompt Democrats to pass the package in two phases, one bipartisan and one not.
The infrastructure proposal is Bidenâs second major agenda item after an earlier COVID-19 relief bill, in which he aims to provide funds to improve the nationâs roads, bridges and ports, as well as addressing climate change and boosting human services such as elder care.
âTo accommodate our Democratic friends in the White House, weâre willing to talk about a much larger infrastructure package than weâre used to,â Senator Roger Wicker, top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, told a Thursday news conference. âBut it needs to be paid for, it needs to be reasonable and it needs to stick to the â I would say â 30% of the presidentâs proposal that is actually infrastructure.â
Republicans have defined infrastructure more narrowly than Bidenâs sweeping interpretation and have opposed Democratsâ plans to raise the corporate tax rate to as high as 28% from the 21% level Republicans cut it to four years ago.
Thirty percent of Bidenâs proposal would be just shy of $700 billion, and between the $600 billion to $800 billion range that Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito described this week as a âsweet spotâ that could garner bipartisan support.
Republican backing could be crucial for Democrats, who hold a narrow majority in the House and face an evenly divided Senate where their control rests upon Vice President Kamala Harrisâ tie-breaking vote.
Capito and several other Republican lawmakers, including Senators Susan Collins and Mitt Romney, say they are in the very early stages of putting together their own legislation that would target traditional infrastructure areas, as well as broadband.
âI think what youâre going to see ⌠is a conceptual Republican bill that we think addresses the core issues,â Capito said on Thursday.
She described Bidenâs proposal to pay for infrastructure spending by undoing much of former President Donald Trumpâs 2017 tax cuts as âa non-negotiable red lineâ for Republicans.
With bipartisan discussions under way in Congress and at the White House, momentum could be growing behind a dual-track approach that could move some of Bidenâs package as bipartisan legislation and other segments through a process called reconciliation that Democrats could move on their own.
âWeâre not going to predetermine whether it all has to happen in one big package,â White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. âThere are different components that could move forward, certainly, on their own.â
Senator Chris Coons, a moderate Democrat, praised Capitoâs idea of doing a bipartisan package of provisions both parties can agree on as a âstrong approach,â leaving the rest of the Democratic infrastructure agenda be set through reconciliation.
âWe are trying to get $2 trillion worth of infrastructure and jobs investments moving ahead. Why wouldnât you do $800 billion of it in a bipartisan way? And then do the other $1.2 trillion, Dems-only through reconciliation, why wouldnât you do it?â Coons asked reporters.
Senator Joe Manchin, another moderate Democrat who has cast doubt on using reconciliation as a way to pass bills, said he would be meeting Republicans about infrastructure.
âWeâre going to do whatever it takes,â Manchin said. âIf it takes $4 trillion, Iâd do $4 trillion, but we have to pay for it. What we have to do is identify infrastructure (to be funded). Come to an agreement âŚthereâs no number that should be set on it at all.â
(Reporting by David Morgan and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Scott Malone and Aurora Ellis)