WASHINGTON – President Biden’s attempt to push through a $ 2 trillion plan to rebuild the country’s infrastructure – along with the tax hikes to pay for them – will be a crucial test of his conviction that bipartisan support for his proposals will defeat traditional Republicans Objections in Congress can be overwhelming.
Rather than push back on his ambitions to curb Republican opposition in the Senate or appease moderate Democrats in the House of Representatives, Mr Biden and his allies on Capitol Hill are unapologetically pushing forward bold, expensive measures, and are betting that they can build bipartisanism among voters in the across the country and not by elected officials in Washington.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, and other members of his party are working to brand the bill as a liberal wish list of wasteful spending and a fundraising Democratic government that will strain the economy with tax increases.
But Mr Biden predicts that the broad appeal of wider streets, faster internet, bullet trains, ubiquitous electric car charging stations, shiny new airport terminals, and improved aqueducts will undermine the anticipated flurry of ideological attacks that are already emanating from Republican lawmakers , Corporate groups, anti-tax activists, and President Donald J. Trump.
At his first cabinet meeting at the White House Thursday, Mr Biden directed several of his top officials to tour the country over the next few weeks to sell the benefits of infrastructure spending. White House press secretary Jen Psaki also told reporters that the president would take Democrats and Republicans into the Oval Office to discuss the plan and their ideas.
“I hope and believe that the American people will join in this effort – Democrats, Republicans and Independents,” said Biden on Wednesday in Pittsburgh when he officially announced his plan. Comparing it to the popularity of the nearly $ 1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill passed last month, he said, “If you live in a city with a Republican mayor, district head, or governor, ask them how many they would rather get rid of the plan. “
Generating sustained support for the proposal, however, will be a major challenge for the White House. The business lobby is preparing for a widespread campaign against tax hikes in the president’s plan. Influential groups like the Business Roundtable and the US Chamber of Commerce warn lawmakers against tax increases if the US emerges from a deep economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
But across the country, some local Republican officials are already advocating the prospect of millions of dollars in new infrastructure spending pouring into their communities even as they are anxious to voice concerns about new taxes.
In Fresno, Calif., Mayor Jerry Dyer said the president’s proposals, if passed into law, would allow the city to accelerate plans for a high-speed rail station connecting it with labor offices in the Bay Area. He said the city was struggling to electrify its bus fleet and provide robust internet, especially for poorer communities.
“These dollars are welcomed for repairing much of our infrastructure,” said Republican Dyer. He said he was concerned about the impact of higher taxes on businesses but hoped Washington would resolve the problem.
“There is no question that the need is there,” he said.
Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, described the president’s proposal as “a very good thing” for his city. With the money, Mesa could modernize a 1970s airport tower, widen streets, expand broadband, and expand a regional light rail network. He said he was disappointed with the Republican opposition in Congress.
“It was only a few months ago that we all agreed that infrastructure was a bipartisan problem,” said Giles. “That attitude shouldn’t change just because there’s a new government in the White House.”
But Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, another Republican who has called for a huge infusion of infrastructure spending, accused Mr Biden of using the legislation to promote $ 1.4 trillion in liberal programs.
“It still has a lot of good things, but it also has a lot of things that have absolutely nothing to do with infrastructure,” said Hogan. “They say, ‘No, we just want to go through all of our priorities.'”
Mr. Biden and those closest to him understand that law enforcement will take place in Washington, not Fresno, Mesa, or Maryland. In announcing his plan, the president sought to label the Republicans in Congress as longtime proponents of infrastructure. He invited her to negotiate and dared to oppose his proposal.
“We will negotiate in good faith with any Republican who wants to help,” said Biden. “But we have to do it.”
That last line was a not-so-subtle reference to his legislative strategy. If the president fails to win the backing of Republican lawmakers, Democrats seemed ready to re-use a parliamentary budgetary tool known as reconciliation to push through the tax and spending plan by simple majority and, most likely, only democratic support.
At an event in his home state Thursday, Mr. McConnell called Mr. Biden “a first class person” whom he personally liked. But he argued that the president led a “brave left government” and warned that “no matter how much we want to deal with infrastructure, the package they are putting together will not get any support from our side.” ”
For Mr Biden, who has served in the Senate for more than three decades, the political calculations are very different from 12 years ago when a similar move was considered.
President Barack Obama took office in 2009 amid an economic crisis that left a Senate firmly under democratic control. Just a few weeks after his tenure, he pushed through a $ 825 billion stimulus package to stimulate the economy – a piece of legislation considered far too shy by many progressives today.
Mr. Obama and his aides spent weeks feverishly negotiating with Conservative Democrats and a handful of Republicans in Congress, urging the President to limit the size of the spending plan. Rahm Emanuel, then Obama’s chief of staff, said Conservative Democrats like Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska insisted that the president win the support of Republicans.
Mr Biden seems to have drawn the lesson from this experience that trying to recruit a small number of Republicans has limited benefits – and that the key is to sell the benefits of the plan to Americans rather than the process to let pass.
“The politics were different, the politics were different, the public was different,” said Emanuel, praising Mr Biden’s approach.
Even before the president unveiled his plan, Republicans argued that Democrats weren’t really interested in bipartisan negotiations, especially after putting the pandemic relief package in place with no Republican votes.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, has asked the Senate MP for guidance on how often Senators can seek reconciliation this fiscal year. This has been taken as a sign by several Republicans that they are preparing to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
“It is insincere for the President to invite Republicans to the White House and Oval Office to discuss it, if he has made it very clear – and Democrats in Congress have made it very clear – they have no intention of speaking with Republicans to work on this package. Said Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee.
In an interview, Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said she appreciated the reach of the government in advance of Mr Biden’s announcement, including several bipartisan lawmakers briefings and individual discussions with Cabinet officials.
But Ms. Collins, a member of a bipartisan Senate group seeking to compromise on a number of issues, said bipartisan negotiations would most likely stall if the government refused to change the overall price or the makeup of the package.
“Everyone knows what bipartisanism means: it means members of Congress from both parties are working on and voting for important laws,” she said, adding, “It’s not like it’s a relic of the ancient world last year acted in a non-partisan way on the most important topic: the pandemic. “
If Democrats are already contemplating reconciliation, Ms. Collins said, “That raises questions about whether there is any serious interest in developing a bipartisan infrastructure package.”
Some Democrats have said the proposal is insufficient to address both infrastructure needs and inequalities across the country, and they have advised the White House against passing a legislative package to win a handful of Republican votes.
“I’m not particularly hopeful that a giant of Republicans will wake up who decide to pass an infrastructure package that actually deals with the climate,” Washington representative Pramila Jayapal, chairwoman of the Progressive Congressional Caucus, told reporters before the speech from Mr. Biden.
