President Biden on Wednesday met for about an hour with the top Republican negotiator on an infrastructure package and agreed to continue talks on Friday, when he returns from a mid-week trip to the Delaware shore.
Sen. Shelley Capito (R-WVa.) and Biden had a “constructive and frank conversation in the Oval Office” and “agreed to reconnect on Friday,” the White House said.
Biden proposed a $2.3 trillion plan in March. But Republicans, led by Capito, last week presented a $928 billion counteroffer after Biden came down to $1.7 trillion.
Capito’s office said that she “is encouraged that negotiations have continued” and “will be briefing the other members of her negotiating team and reconnecting with the president on Friday.”
Some Democrats want to ram Biden’s large original package through Congress without any Republican votes using budget reconciliation — as they did in March to pass Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
Budget reconciliation allows Democrats, who control the evenly divided Senate, to avoid the usual 60 vote threshold for bills in the upper chamber.
Republicans including Capito have said that Biden himself seems more eager for a deal than his staff.
There remain vast differences between Biden and Republicans on how to pay for a bill and what to include.
Republicans refuse to consider tax increases and want to remove social spending such as $400 billion proposed for home and community healthcare.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday that the White House will decide next week whether to continue to seek compromise after Congress resumes business after a Memorial Day break.
“By the time that they return, which is June 7 just a week from tomorrow, we need a clear direction,” Buttigieg said. “The president keeps saying, ‘inaction is not an option’ and time is not unlimited here. The American people expect us to do something.”
Biden’s original plan called for $115 billion for roads and bridges, $111 billion to modernize water systems, $100 billion for broadband internet, $85 billion for public transit, $80 billion for Amtrak repairs and $25 billion for airports, among other items.
The latest Capito-led counterproposal would put much more money — $506 billion — toward road and bridges while cutting items that are less traditionally considered infrastructure, like healthcare and electric vehicle subsidies.
The latest GOP plan approximates other initial Biden asks, calling for $98 billion for public transit systems, $72 billion for water systems, $65 billion for broadband expansion, $56 billion for airports and $46 billion for passenger and freight rail.
Republicans want to pay for the bill in part by using unspent money from the $1.9 trillion in COVID-19 relief funds that passed in March. The White House insisted last week that 95 percent of pandemic stimulus funds had been obligated.
The White House rejected a different Republican proposal to apply user fees to new infrastructure projects. Republicans also have floated using public-private partnerships. Biden wants to pay for the bill with higher taxes on businesses and higher incomes.
Biden proposed paying for much of his separate $1.8 trillion “families” plan with a crackdown on wealthy tax cheats, which the White House claimed could raise $700 billion over 10 years. It’s unclear if that idea is being weighed to pay for the infrastructure bill instead.
Democrats face internal divisions, increasing the appeal of compromise and making it less than certain they could force through a bill without any Republicans.
In the Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) whose vote alone could derail the infrastructure and “families” bills, said he’s “very uncomfortable” with the amount of spending being proposed.
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