The bipartisan infrastructure deal advanced in the Senate Wednesday night on a 67-32 vote, with 17 Republicans -- including Minority Leader McConnell -- joining Democrats in voting to proceed.
The NYT says the backing of McConnell -- “a longtime foil of major legislation pushed by Democratic presidents” signaled that the GOP “was -- at least for now -- open to teaming with Democrats to enact the plan.”
Wednesday’s vote does not mean the deal has cleared the Senate -- it just means there was enough support to proceed to consideration of the bill. But things look promising, and those 67 votes may even be a baseline, since some Republicans who voted “no” were against what the AP called the “sudden speed,” not the proposal itself. (For instance, Minority Whip John Thune voted no, but called the plan’s funding elements “very credible.”)
Punchbowl writes, “Give them credit.” The senators and the White House “got an infrastructure proposal locked down on Wednesday. And then they got a large majority to vote to advance it on the Senate floor.” The WaPo says that in a “day of breakthroughs,” Democrats and Republicans “banded together.” Politico says the Senate “may even work through the weekend to make progress on the proposal.”
This is no small bill. According to CNN, the White House is saying “the bill’s investments in various areas of US infrastructure were either the largest ever or in several decades.” But Axios warns that “House progressives and others [are] ready to pounce” -- and House Speaker Pelosi continues to link further action on the deal to movement on the $3.5 trillion social spending and climate plan. Meanwhile, Donald Trump called the bipartisan infrastructure bill a terrible deal that will make Republicans look “weak, foolish and dumb.”
The 12,000 Americans No Labels surveyed last week -- including most of the Republicans -- don’t agree: 72% want it passed. (Politico says “those close to the former president say he remains miffed that Senate Republicans didn’t move a bill when he was in office.”)
As for the separate $3.5 trillion social spending plan, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) -- who played a key role in crafting the bipartisan infrastructure deal -- says she will not back it, which, the Arizona Republic reports, “suggests Democrats won’t have the votes to pass the more expansive plan, forcing Democrats to scale back the bill.” USA Today says that bill is “unlikely to get a single GOP vote” -- so, as Roll Call reports, “Democratic leaders could be whipsawed between moderates like Sinema, who want to keep spending down, and progressives seeking a more robust package.” The WSJ says Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) could also break ranks.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) praised Sinema, writing, “It’s rare to have an elected official from one party publicly praising another from the opposite party, but I’m doing just that because it’s so essential for the future of our nation that Sinema holds fast.”
While progressives promise a fight in the House, the WaPo reports moderate Democrats are not folding. Some “have worried that the scale and ambition of Biden’s legislative agenda could turn off voters in the suburbs,” with one House member specifically citing “concern in the caucus about the size of the spending and tax package that is being drafted to accompany the bipartisan infrastructure bill.”
We have a long road ahead to get the infrastructure bill passed, but it’s clearly what the public wants. One of the president’s “closest advisers, Mike Donilon, believes swing voters want Congress to pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal, and embrace solutions where the two parties ‘meet in the middle,’ according to a memo first reported by Axios.”