Senators hope bipartisan infrastructure spending bill hits landing Monday يصل

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Senator Mark Warner said Sunday that a bipartisan infrastructure bill could be finalized Sunday, pushing the massive spending bill forward to face another test on the Senate floor.

“I think we will,” Warner, of Virginia, said when asked on “Fox News Sunday” if senators would introduce a bill on Monday.

Senators announced an agreement on a White House infrastructure framework with the endorsement of President Joe Biden last month, but major disagreements over details delayed bringing the legislation to a vote.

“We’ve come about 90 percent of the way there,” Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, said on ABC News’ This Week. “I feel good about getting that done this week.”

Congress is having a rough time, with only two working weeks left before the scheduled August recess, a self-imposed deadline for lawmakers to end a row over an infrastructure bill and a separate massive spending package that would tackle the social safety net. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York State has vowed to end or delay the holiday.

Lawmakers want to go home with victories touted as the country faces another wave of Covid cases in areas with low vaccination rates, as well as rising consumer prices and waning optimism.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons also noted optimism.

“I think this is the week we bill for infrastructure,” he said Sunday on MSNBC.

The remaining sticking point is where to spend the money.

Democratic Senator John Tester said the main sticking point in the $579 billion five-year package is the “proportion” of money distributed between highways and public transportation.

Senators and his aides say Democrats want 80 percent of the money for highway transportation projects and 20 percent for transportation, citing precedent. Republicans want less than 20 percent to go on mass transit, saying the percentage needs to be adjusted.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has highlighted the difficulty of reaching a bipartisan agreement.

“Yes, it’s complicated. No, we’re not there yet, but it will,” Raimondo said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, reiterated that she will not vote on the infrastructure package until the Senate passes the second largest spending bill, which is a priority for liberals. The larger bill, which focuses on the social safety net, is being passed using vague rules that allow Democrats to push it through without Republican support.

“I’m not going to put it on the floor until we have the rest of the initiative,” Pelosi said on “This Week.”

Republicans voted Wednesday to block the Senate from starting debate on the infrastructure proposal, saying they wanted more time to finalize the details. Procedural motion 49-51 failed, with Schumer eventually turning his “no” vote to preserve his option to call the same vote on another day. The movement needed 60 to succeed.

Senator Tim Scott, R.S., criticized Schumer for holding the vote before the bill was finalised.

“You can’t see it. You can’t negotiate it. I don’t support it,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Teegan Finn is a political reporter for NBC News.

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