17 Republicans and Every Democrat Votes to Advance Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
A total of 17 Republicans and all 50 members of the congressional Democratic caucus has voted to advance the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was one of the 17 Republican votes for the bill to proceed. The vote could help start debate on the bill and possibly bring it to a vote on the Senate floor in the coming days.
The 17 Republican Senators who voted to advance the bill are the following:
- Roy Blunt of Missouri
- Richard Burr of North Carolina
- Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
- Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
- Susan Collins of Maine
- Kevin Cramer of North Dakota
- Mike Crapo of Idaho
- Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
- Chuck Grassley of Iowa
- John Hoeven of North Dakota
- Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
- Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
- Rob Portman of Ohio
- James Risch of Idaho
- Mitt Romney of Utah
- Thom Tillis of North Carolina
- Todd Young of Indiana
In June, the White House and a group of Senate Republicans agreed to a bipartisan infrastructure framework. Now that the bill has proceeded, members of both parties will have the opportunity to amend or remove provisions from the bill.
As it stands, the bipartisan bill will allocate $110 billion for roads, $73 billion for power grids, $66 billion for railways, $65 billion to expanded broadband access, $55 billion for clean drinking water, $50 billion for environment-proofing utility systems, $39 billion for public transit and $25 billion in airports, the White House reported.
The bill still needs to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO is a non-partisan office that runs a cost estimate based on legislative proposals. Its estimates use certain economic assumptions and financial projections to determine the cost of legislation, taking government revenue streams into account.
The bill will reportedly be funded in part by redirecting $205 billion in COVID-19 relief funds, the recollection of $50 billion in fraudulently paid pandemic unemployment benefits as well as states returning any of their unused federal unemployment funds.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has said that she would want to review the full text of the bill before bringing it up for a vote in the lower congressional chamber, according to NPR. She also said that she'll delay a House vote until the Senate passes a budget resolution that details nearly $3.5 trillion in Democratic "human infrastructure" proposals.
Democratic congressional leaders have pledged to pass the bipartisan bill in tandem with "human infrastructure" proposals. Such proposals will include expanded healthcare, childcare and eldercare benefits.
Congressional Democrats intend on trying to pass their "human infrastructure" proposals using the budget reconciliation process. The legislative route would allow Democrats to avoid the 60-vote filibuster and pass legislation through a simple majority vote.
The main restriction to reconciliation is the Byrd Rule, named after the late Democratic Senator Robert Byrd. The rules allow a provision to be removed from the budget reconciliation process if it is deemed "extraneous" to the budget. It's up to the Senate parliamentarian to interpret chamber rules and decide what is extraneous.
On Wednesday evening, Republican former President Donald Trump warned Senate Republicans from voting for the bill.
"This will be a victory for the Biden Administration and Democrats, and will be heavily used in the 2022 election," Trump continued. "It is a loser for the USA, a terrible deal, and makes the Republicans look weak, foolish, and dumb."
Newsweek contacted Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office for comment.
