Senate Democrats weigh $6T infrastructure bill, without GOP

Source: By MARIANNE LEVINE and BURGESS EVERETT, Politico • Posted: Thursday, June 17, 2021

The bigger proposal doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that the party has given up on bipartisan talks just as they gain steam.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters about progress on an infrastructure bill and voting rights legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters about progress on an infrastructure bill and voting rights legislation. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Senate Democrats are weighing spending as much as $6 trillion on their own infrastructure package if the chamber’s bipartisan talks fail, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has repeatedly insisted that infrastructure talks are currently on two tracks: The first track is bipartisan, while the second track will include priorities that have no chance of getting GOP support. He huddled on Wednesday afternoon with Democratic members of the Budget Committee to discuss strategy, with no firm decision reached.

Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has been pushing for an aggressive approach to the infrastructure talks and is angling to insert a large expansion of Medicare into Democrats’ plan. Earlier this week, Sanders said he opposed the emerging bipartisan agreement. He acknowledged that the bipartisan talks could impact his plans but vowed to proceed.

According to a tentative plan, half of the proposed Democrats-only alternative would be paid for. About $2.5 trillion would go through the Finance Committee, $185 billion through the Energy Committee and almost $500 billion through the Environment and Public Works Committee, one source said, while emphasizing that the discussions are fluid. The dollar amount, however, is likely to shrink as moderates weigh in. At the moment, it appears impossible that all 50 Democrats would get on board with such a large figure.

A spokesperson for the Budget committee declined to comment.

Moderate Democrats met with Schumer midday to discuss their bipartisan proposal, the budget and reconciliation, according to two sources familiar with the matter. They have signaled they are unlikely to go along with a package running into the multi-trillion-dollar range, but talks about a compromise are just beginning in earnest.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) laughed when asked if the $6 trillion number is too high. He said he was “open” to reconciliation but wants increases to the corporate income tax and capital gains to be more modest than as presented by Biden.

“Can we keep [the bipartisan bill] alive and moving when we go ahead and start having some of the disagreements about reconciliation? Because I get that the Democrats are not going to go for the infrastructure plan, no matter how good it is, without at least giving it what I would term visibility with what’s going to happen on reconciliation,” Warner said in an interview. “I and others have to say: ‘I can live with this part and not that part.'”

The details of the bigger plan come as a bipartisan group of senators, led by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), released details this week of an infrastructure plan that costs about $973 billion over five years or $1.2 trillion over eight. The plan would include $579 billion in new spending, and pay-fors include repurposing unused Covid relief funds, imposing a surcharge on electric vehicles, and expanding use of state and local funds for coronavirus relief.

Schumer may need to make sure he has unified support for a massive Democratic-only package before he can cut a deal on a separate, bipartisan bill.

The White House has balked at indexing the gas tax, the EV charges and raiding Covid funds. But a White House official said that Senate Democrats offered a more detailed, updated briefing to them on Wednesday.

“We continue to be encouraged by what our team was briefed on,” the official said.

Leaders in both parties expressed some skepticism about the initial bipartisan outline. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Thursday that the bipartisan group’s proposed ways to pay for its plan may be “problematic” because they may not produce revenue in the eyes of the Congressional Budget Office. But he added that “directionally, they are off to a good start. And most of the components are things that a number of our folks could be supportive of.” Meanwhile, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said the revenue side “held me back.”