US Senate poised to pass $1tn bipartisan infrastructure bill – live

Republican senator Mike Rounds, who was also part of the initial bipartisan group that negotiated over the infrastructure bill, said he now opposes the legislation as well.

Rounds noted he will not be present for today’s vote, as he is traveling to the Mayo Clinic with his wife as she receives cancer treatments.

But the South Dakota Republican said he would vote against the bill if he were in Washington today, even though he supported advancing the legislation in a procedural vote this weekend.

“For months, I have been working with my colleagues to negotiate bipartisan infrastructure legislation,” Rounds said.

“However, as this framework progressed out of our bipartisan working groups to the Senate floor, it became evident that the legislation in its final form included several progressive mandates and federal funding clawbacks that I believe go too far.”

One curious aspect of the Senate’s negotiations over the bipartisan infrastructure bill has been how many Republicans have essentially ignored Donald Trump’s criticism of the legislation.

“Nobody will ever understand why [Senate minority leader] Mitch McConnell allowed this non-infrastructure bill to be passed. He has given up all of his leverage for the big whopper of a bill that will follow,” Trump said in a statement this morning.

The former president has issued similar statements in recent weeks, urging Republican senators to vote against the infrastructure bill.

But his demands don’t seem to be having much of an impact, as the bill is expected to pass with the support of roughly 20 Republican senators.

However, some Senate Republicans are clearly a bit more wary of going against Trump to support the bill. Senators Jerry Moran and Todd Young, who are both up for reelection next year, have announced they will oppose the bill, even though they supported the initial framework for the legislation.

Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg praised the bipartisan infrastructure bill as a historic piece of legislation that will help America strengthen its roads, bridges and broadband access.

“This is a big day,” Buttigieg told CNN. “It’s looking good. What we see in today’s bitterly divided Washington is Republicans and Democrats coming together with the president to say, ‘We need to do this.’”

CNN anchor John Berman asked Buttigieg about what he would say to progressive Democrats in the House who have indicated they will only vote for the bill if they receive assurances about the future passage of the $3.5tn reconciliation bill.

“This is good policy, and it’s good funding,” Buttigieg replied. “What we’re talking about here represents the most significant infrastructure funding that we’ve done in my lifetime, and then some.”

Buttigieg noted that the Biden administration strongly supports the reconciliation package as well, but he added, “This bill, if you just look at it, is going to do a lot for this country.”

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

The Senate is expected to hold its final vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill this morning, and the legislation will likely pass with support from members of both parties.

The final vote comes after months of negotiating over the bill, which would invest $550bn in new federal funds in roads, bridges and other physical infrastructure projects.

Joe Biden has already endorsed the bill, calling it “the most significant long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century”.

However, the bill still faces a long road to passage in the House, where Democrats have just a three-seat majority.

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has indicated she does not want to hold a vote on the bipartisan bill until the chamber can also take up the $3.5tn reconciliation package.

Senate Democrats released their blueprint for the reconciliation bill yesterday, but much work remains to be done on the massive spending package.

So although the bipartisan infrastructure bill will likely clear a key hurdle this morning, there are more challenges ahead before the legislation can actually become law.

The blog will have more details coming up, so stay tuned.