The group of Republican senators that announced support Thursday for a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill may now be experiencing some ''buyer’s remorse'' after learning that President Joe Biden is still pursuing a separate Democrat move to expand spending through the budget reconciliation process at the same time.
Despite initially agreeing to move the bill forward in the Senate, Republicans now feel they were duped by Biden, who said Thursday night that he would veto the agreed-upon legislation if it came to his desk absent a Democrat-pushed budget reconciliation measure that would dramatically increase spending on infrastructure by putting in many items the GOP team removed.
"If this is the only one that comes to me, I'm not signing it,'' Biden said in The New York Times, referring to the infrastructure package. "It's in tandem."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the Senate floor on Friday, making clear that the previously agreed-to bill would be in jeopardy if the Democrats move forward unilaterally with the added reconciliation piece.
"Less than two hours after publicly commending our colleagues and actually endorsing the bipartisan agreement, the president took the extraordinary step of threatening to veto it," McConnell said. "An expression of bipartisanship, and then an ultimatum on behalf of your left-wing base."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., posted on Twitter that Biden’s threat amounted to ''extortion,'' and would kill what the president called ''a landmark agreement'' just yesterday.
"No deal by extortion!" Graham tweeted. "It was never suggested to me during these negotiations that President Biden was holding hostage the bipartisan infrastructure proposal unless a liberal reconciliation package was also passed."
The bipartisan legislation would include $579 billion in new spending in the next eight years and would use $312 billion on transportation projects, including mass transit, roads, bridges, safety, airports, and ports and waterways, according to the White House.
And $266 billion would be spent on water, broadband and power infrastructure, as well as environmental remediation.
The remaining $600 billion would come from closing the tax gap, using money that has not yet been spent to address the COVID-19 pandemic, targeted corporate user fees, and the economic impact of doing the work.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that having both legislative measures moving forward at the same time should not surprise Republicans because Biden has consistently said that was his plan.
"That hasn't been a secret. He hasn't said it quietly,'' Psaki said at her Friday press briefing. "I will say that the president's view is that the public, the American people, elected him to not lead on process but to get things done. The leadership of the House and Senate are going to determine sequencing and timing."
The reconciliation piece of the puzzle could be moved through the Senate and House with only Democrats' support and could raise the cost of any infrastructure plan.
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