U.S. Senate returns for ‘hell of a fight’ over Biden infrastructure plan

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to news reporters after the announcement of a bipartisan infrastructure deal on Capitol Hill in Washington, USA, on June 24, 2021. REUTERS / Tom Brenner / File Photo

WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) – The US Senate returned to one of its most ambitious agendas in years on Monday as Democratic President Joe Biden calls for trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending and Republicans pledge a “hell of a fight” against the tax hike.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened the Senate after a two-week hiatus on July 4, saying that progress was being made on both a $ 1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan and the first step on another measure that would only be passed with democratic votes.

However, given the 50:50 split in the Senate, it was uncertain whether the Democratic leader could achieve his goal of getting both measures passed sometime in August.

“If we are successful, the benefits will have an impact across the country for future generations,” said Schumer.

Last week, Schumer’s Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell promised a “hell of a fight” over the Democratic partisan initiative while leaving open the possibility of his support for the nascent bipartisan law.

According to lawmakers and congressional aides, negotiators were still debating ways to fund the $ 1.2 trillion price tag for the latter move.

To make matters worse, Congress could become embroiled in a potentially divisive debate over raising the legal ceiling on US borrowing, which expires in late July.

While the Treasury Department is expected to be able to administer several weeks past the July 31 deadline, global financial markets are getting more nervous about a possible US default the longer the matter is unresolved.

The Democrats control both houses of Congress with wafer-thin margins and can afford to lose few votes in the House of Representatives and none in the Senate if they want to be successful. They view the entire infrastructure package as possibly the most important piece of legislation to be enforced before next year’s elections that will determine control of Congress for the second half of Biden’s four-year term.

The bipartisan agreement would fund the rebuilding of roads, bridges and other traditional infrastructure projects and bring broadband internet services to more rural areas.

It got a boost last week from the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

McConnell said there was a “decent chance” that the bipartisan bill could gain momentum, but cautioned that the spending would have to be funded somehow without adding to the national debt.

“NOT THE RIGHT”

At public events in his home state of Kentucky last week, McConnell overturned his dire assessments of tax increases in the other infrastructure laws that the Democrats are expected to put on top of the bipartisan bill.

“It’s going to be a hell of a fight. … This is not right for the country, “warned McConnell as he attacked Biden’s plans for possible tax hikes for businesses and the rich to finance the cost of some infrastructure investments.

A measure to be worked out before the start of the August break would merely create the technical framework for ramming the Senate – without Republican support – through a second, larger infrastructure measure.

This Democratic-only plan would require a maneuver called “Reconciliation” that bypasses Senate rules, which require 60 votes to pass most laws.

The big package is set to be the last big part of Biden’s first legislative dream: a partisan “human infrastructure” bill in the fall to invest huge sums in combating climate change while expanding US education and home health care elderly and others.

McConnell has attacked these initiatives and is hoping for resistance from some moderate Democrats.

Senate Budgets Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, a leading Liberal, is looking for up to $ 6 trillion in new investment while other, more moderate Democrats on his panel want less.

Corporate lobbyists, along with Republicans, have already tabled plans to thwart the initiative, arguing that tax hikes would harm a U.S. economy emerging from the wreckage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the meantime, Democrats of all political lines will try to add important provisions to their constituents. Progressives are calling for a temporary extension of the child allowance to be turned into a permanent benefit. And lawmakers from high-tax democracies are insisting that a cap on state and local tax deductions that was included in a 2017 Republican tax bill be relaxed.

Given the wafer-thin majorities of the Democrats in Congress, the party leaders in both chambers must pay attention to all demands of their members or risk losing enough support to pass any of these bills.

Reporting by Richard Cowan; additional reporting from Susan Cornwell; Adaptation by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis

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