Biden wants infrastructure deal; GOP doubts persist
President Biden wants Congress to know he’s sincere about cutting a deal on infrastructure, but Republican lawmakers have deepseated doubts about the scope of his proposed package, its tax hikes and Biden’s premise that this is an inflection point for the U.S. as a world power.
Biden met Monday afternoon with a bipartisan group of lawmakers and tried to assure them that the Oval Office gathering was not “window dressing.” One of the core disputes is over what counts as infrastructure in his $2.3 trillion proposal.
“I’m prepared to negotiate as to the extent of my infrastructure project, as well as how we pay for it,” Biden said. “It’s going to get down to what we call ‘infrastructure.’ ”
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi indicated after the meeting that he was willing to negotiate with Biden and called it a “good discussion.” But a more fundamental disagreement also emerged about whether the United States is losing its status atop the global economy because of its deteriorating infrastructure.
“He says that we’re a declining superpower, the United States is no longer No. 1,” Wicker said afterward. “I just fundamentally disagree with that.”
The meeting came as Biden’s team is making a direct argument for lawmakers to put their constituents ahead of their ideologies. The White House released state-by-state breakdowns Monday that show the dire shape of roads, bridges, the power grid and housing affordability, among other issues. An appeal to the broader public is unlikely to resonate much with Republican lawmakers who have already blasted the plan.
Among the Republicans at the meeting were Sen. Deb
Fischer of Nebraska and Reps. Garret Graves of Louisiana and Don Young of Alaska. Democrats attending were Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Sen. Alex Padilla of California and Reps. Donald Payne Jr. of New Jersey and David Price of North Carolina.
In the room, “nobody said we didn’t need infrastructure investment,” Cantwell, the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in an interview.
The lawmakers said Biden will seek to drive a consensus by having his team revisit with them and others, as soon as Tuesday.
Graves said the president talked about how he was open to discussion and open to negotiation on the size, scope and definition of infrastructure.