Biden's infra Bill hits Senate speed bump, debate slows to crawl

A slow-going Senate debate over a broad $550 billion infrastructure package spilled into Sunday and could go on for days yet, with lawmakers unable to agree on which final changes to consider.
 

Amendments still on the table include proposals for new cryptocurrency rules and flexibility for states and localities that choose to use some unspent pandemic relief funds for roads and bridges.

Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who helped negotiate the bipartisan proposal, said he expects the package of money for roads, water systems and broadband expansion will eventually pass, but suggested that may be two days away unless all 100 senators can agree to speed things up.

“Probably it’s going to pass,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “We’ll have a vote tonight at 7:30 and then another vote -- if you just look at the clock playing out -- sometime on Tuesday. So, it could go quicker, but it’s going.”

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened the Sunday session saying Democrats were ready to consider amendments to the legislation, which is a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda.

“That will require the cooperation of our Republican colleagues,” he said. “In any case, we’ll keep proceeding until we get this bill done.”

At least one GOP senator, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, has refused to allow the unanimous agreement needed to speed past hours and hours of remaining debate. He is among a cluster of Republicans who oppose the bill because it will be followed by a Democratic effort to push through without Senate GOP backing a more expansive $3.5 trillion measure entailing the rest of Biden’s economic agenda.

“I’m not inclined to expedite this process whatsoever,” Hagerty said on Saturday.

On Sunday, he proposed bringing up a package of amendments for votes, but without a time agreement to bring the bill to a close quickly.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the top Democrat negotiator on the bipartisan package, objected, drawing a rebuke from Hagerty.

“Democrats’ true intention is to rush this bill through so that they can hurry up and light the fuse on their $3.5 trillion spending spree, a socialist debt bomb, then leave town for vacation,” he said.

The Senate did edge the infrastructure legislation past one of its final procedural hurdles on a 67-27 vote on Saturday, an indicator of the bill’s bipartisan support. But agreement on a last batch of amendments was elusive.

Amendments
 

Senators in both parties were still working to resolve a dispute over two dueling amendments to modify a provision dealing with reporting requirements for cryptocurrency transactions and tax collection. The bipartisan group that drew up the legislation was counting on the extra tax revenue generated to help pay for some of the bill’s costs.

Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, a progressive Democrat, teamed up with conservative Republicans Pat Toomey and Cynthia Lummis in working with the cryptocurrency industry to draft changes to narrow those affected by the reporting requirements. It would exclude entities such as miners, software designers and protocol developers from the groups that need to report data to the Internal Revenue Service.

But Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, and Democrats Sinema and Mark Warner -- three key players in negotiating the infrastructure legislation -- proposed an 11th-hour alternative endorsed by the White House. It would target some software companies and cryptocurrency miners.

Toomey said Saturday that the talks weren’t immediately fruitful.

“I don’t know how it’s going to work out. We’re working on it,” the Pennsylvania Republican said.

Meanwhile, Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn is pressing for the Senate to vote on his amendment that would allow state and local governments to use as much as 30% of their unspent Covid relief funds on infrastructure projects. Cornyn said his proposal, sponsored with Democratic Senator Alex Padilla, could free up between $80 billion and $100 billion for projects.

He pleaded with other senators on Saturday to allow consent needed to vote on the proposal considered “non-germane” under Senate rules.

“This money is readily available and does not add to the deficit or debt, but merely provides them with flexibility,” Cornyn said.

Crawling Pace
 

Hagerty’s objection to speeding up debate underscored how a single senator can use the chamber’s arcane rules to force the Senate to move at a crawl. He may have another chance to do so beginning Sunday night.

The Senate still has one more procedural vote to wrap up debate and move toward final passage -- but that comes only after another 30 hours of debate, unless he along with everyone else agrees to drop that time.

Lack of agreement to move things ahead risks pushing final passage into early Tuesday. After that, Senate Democrats will begin a days-long debate over the fiscal blueprint underpinning the $3.5 trillion economic plan before lawmakers leave for an August recess.

The infrastructure bill includes $110 billion in new spending for roads and bridges, $73 billion for electric grid upgrades, $66 billion for rail and Amtrak, and $65 billion for broadband expansion. It also provides $55 billion for clean drinking water and $39 billion for transit.

“The state of play looks good” and the package is “on the cusp” of moving through the Senate, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on “Fox News Sunday.” The infrastructure spending will generate “enormous economic growth,” he said.

The legislation still faces challenges in the House, where Democrats can afford only three defectors if Republicans vote in unison against the bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi reaffirmed Friday that the House won’t take up the infrastructure legislation until the Senate also passes the more sweeping economic package, a linkage demanded by progressives in the chamber. That is a central demand of progressive Democrats in the House, but some moderates are urging Pelosi to not delay the infrastructure bill.

--With assistance from Laura Litvan and Daniel Flatley.