Democrats want the massive bi-partisan infrastructure deal done quickly as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he wants the ...
Democrats want the massive bi-partisan infrastructure deal done quickly as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he wants the bill ready to hit the Senate floor by July 19, it has been reported.
Multiple House and Senate sources told Politico that the $1.7 trillion infrastructure bill could hit the floor in just two weeks. The Biden administration is reportedly working with the Senate to get the bill ready for that deadline.
'As Leader Schumer has said, he wants to move on both the bipartisan plan and the budget resolution during the upcoming July/August Senate session,' a White House official said in an email, according to Politico.
'Our understanding is that the process could begin as early as the week of 7/19, given that committees are still finalizing legislative text for both the budget resolution and the bipartisan bill.'
The official added: 'We of course support going forward as fast as possible, but it would be a mistake to think of July 19 as anything more than the opening of a window.'
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has reportedly said he wants the bill ready to hit the Senate floor by July 19
The Biden administration is reportedly working with the Senate to get the bill ready for that deadline
Schumer has reportedly also vowed that any infrastructure bill that hits the floor would be considered before the Senate leaves for recess in August, Politico noted.
The news was revealed on a call on Wednesday with House Democrats, in which they were joined by White House legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell and deputy legislative affairs director Shuwanza Goff.
However, Politico reported that some Democrats warned 'that the bill's substance remains fluid' while the party feels pressure to move on the bill.
The bill's framework was crafted by 20 senators from both parties who are working to transform the proposal during the chamber's current recess.
The senators reportedly hope to have a draft of the bill completed by next week in order for it to be considered on the floor, Politico reported.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned President Biden that he faces a 'hell of a fight' over his prized infrastructure bill, describing it as 'wildly inappropriate' and criticizing attempts to pass the plan along party lines.
McConnell, speaking at an event in Kentucky on Tuesday, told the crowd that there would be a 'big argument' about Democrats' plan to use reconciliation, which allows them to bypass Republicans in the Senate, to pass the $1.7 trillion bill.
'There is a process by which they could pass this without a single Republican,' said McConnell, the most senior Republican in the Senate.
'But we're going to make it hard for them. And there are a few Democrats left in rural America and some others who would like to be more in the political center who may find this offensive.'
Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, was in his home state of Kentucky on Tuesday and asked about the $1.7 trillion infrastructure plan. He warned that there would be trouble if Democrats tried to ram it through without Republican support
McConnell, 79, who has been a senator for Kentucky since 1985, said that the impending battle was one of the biggest the country had faced.
'The era of bipartisanship on this stuff is over,' he said.
'This is not going to be done on a bipartisan basis. This is going to be a hell of a fight over what this country ought to look like in the future and it's going to unfold here in the next few weeks.
'I don't think we've had a bigger difference of opinion between the two parties.'
McConnell's remarks come as the Senate is in a two-week July 4 recess.
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