Biden eyes more than one path
President Joe Biden is pursuing “multiple paths forward” as he looks to muscle his big infrastructure package through Congress — dialing up lawmakers from both parties in search of a bipartisan deal while imploring Democrats to be ready to go it alone if necessary.
It’s an approach that shows the political perils ahead for the White House and Democrats eager to make gains on their agenda but also the potential routes to a $1 trillion-plus investment package that would be a signature accomplishment for the president and his party in power.
In one fell swoop this week, Biden cut off talks with a core group of Republican senators when it became clear there was no bridging the divide between their differing views on the size of an infrastructure investment, started new talks with a bipartisan group of 10 senators working on a deal and welcomed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan effort from a group in the House.
At the same time, before leaving for his first overseas trip to Europe, Biden instructed Democratic leaders in Congress to prepare
the groundwork to pass some or all of the ambitious package on their own if there is no deal to be made with Republican lawmakers this summer.
“His view is that there are multiple paths forward,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
The legislative road ahead promises long days and nights of talks, as lawmakers and the administration grind out the details of what would be the most sweeping domestic infrastructure investment in years. It showcases an almost forgotten skill in Washington, the art of negotiation, even as the prospects for a final deal remain in doubt.
The current thinking is that it could take all approaches to secure a deal: Perhaps Biden can reach a bipartisan accord on the more traditional roads and bridges projects, and then he will need to depend on a party-line vote for the child care centers, veterans hospitals and family-friendly tax policies he wants in the face of Republican resistance.
On Wednesday, some of the group of 10 senators — five Democrats and five Republicans — who met late Tuesday over pizza huddled again trying to shape the bipartisan backbone of a more traditional infrastructure plan.
“We’re continuing to refine a proposal that can get support from both sides of the aisle,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
Portman has been leading the effort with Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona for months and is drawing in other senators to swap ideas and assess support.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has put the group’s membership at 20 senators and told reporters the group would keep at it until it reaches a deal — or a dead end.
With the narrowly split House and the 50-50 Senate, the White House faces political challenges pushing its priorities through Congress with Democratic votes alone.
Most legislation requires 60 votes to advance in the Senate, meaning at least 10 Republicans would be needed to push past a filibuster. Democrats are preparing to use special budget reconciliation rules that allow legislation to be approved with a 51-vote threshold in the Senate, if needed.