Negotiations between President Joe Biden and a Republican senator over U.S. infrastructure investments appeared to have sputtered, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday, adding that other avenues for enacting legislation remained.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the leader of a group of six Senate Republicans handling the negotiations, had a five-minute call with the Democratic president on Tuesday, a Capito spokesperson said.
Referring to the discussions, Schumer, a Democrat, said, they “seem to be running into a brick wall.”
Meanwhile, Biden was broadening his search for a deal with other senators. Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, gave new life to the possibility of some sort of a bipartisan bill being cobbled together that ultimately could be paired with a Democrat-only bill to achieve more of the administration’s $2 trillion investment goals.
Republicans have been talking about a far more modest package of less than $1 trillion, with much of the money coming from initiatives already enacted into law, such as COVID-19 relief.
Some liberal members of Biden’s party have become worried that the talks are dragging on for too long and may result in a smaller package than the country needs. They are keenly aware of the risk that they could lose their narrow majorities in either or both chambers of Congress in next year’s midterm elections, making progress on Biden’s agenda urgent now.
Nevertheless, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden views Capito “as an important and viable partner.” She added, however, that “there are a lot of paths forward” that could include ideas from senators outside of Capito’s six-person negotiating group.
The two parties remain far apart on one of Biden’s major domestic policy goals, disagreeing on how much to spend, how to pay for it and even what constitutes infrastructure.
Capito rejected the idea that her next round of talks with Biden could be make-or-break for a bipartisan package. “This is going to be more of an ongoing conversation,” she said.
The White House has offered to whittle down its package of proposals, which include climate change, home healthcare and education initiatives, to $1.7 trillion. It also includes spending on more traditional infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges. Capito has offered a $928 billion plan that Biden has dismissed as too small.
“I’m working hard to find common ground with Republicans when it comes to the American Jobs Plan, but I refuse to raise taxes on Americans making under $400,000 a year to pay for it,” Biden wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “It’s long past time the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share.”
Biden also reached out to Senator Bill Cassidy on Tuesday to discuss infrastructure, the Republican said.
“POTUS just called to discuss infrastructure,” Cassidy wrote on Twitter. “I brought up flood resiliency and energy provisions that would benefit Louisiana as well as the rest of our nation. Strongly support @SenCapito’s efforts. Any infrastructure package should and must be bipartisan.”
Administration officials have said that Biden will not let the negotiations drag on endlessly. Later this week, he leaves on the first foreign trip of his presidency, to attend a G7 Summit in Cornwall, England.
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