Biden and his team hold out hope for a deal. They also believe voters will reward them for trying
In the White House there is a belief that the public will reward the president for reaching a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure. In an April meeting with the centrist New Democrats congressional caucus, Steve Ricchetti, Biden’s counselor, told members that a bipartisan pact — or at least an effort at striking one — would be politically beneficial to the party, said a person in the meeting.
Ahead of her meeting with him this week, Capito said that based on their recent conversations, she believes he is invested in making a deal happen. Her comments came after days of Republicans seemingly trying to drive a wedge between Biden and his top aides on the negotiations. Sen. Roy Blunt that Biden indicated in their May 13 meeting he would allow money that Congress spends on other infrastructure projects each year to count toward the total, only to have administration staffers question it later.
The Republican focus on user fees to pay for infrastructure also represents a major point of contention. The Biden administration has said they consider new fees on people earning less than $400,000, another red line they are resistant to cross, particularly as Republicans have been unwilling to reopen Trump’s tax cuts to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.
For Democrats, there is concern that Republicans are dragging out the negotiations with no real intention of cutting a deal. McConnell’s recent declaration that his sole focus was on unifying Republicans to stand up to the administration, reminded many in Bidenworld of his pledge to thwart former President Barack Obama’s entire agenda.
Biden said Friday he won’t wait much longer for an infrastructure agreement, and Senate Democrats in Congress are already paving the way to use the budget reconciliation process to pass an infrastructure bill with just 50 votes. But progressives say that even short extensions of negotiations are coming with a major price.
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