• Home
  • Independent Voter News
  • Quizzes
  • Election Dissection
  • Sections
  • Events
  • Directory
  • About Us
  • Glossary
  • Opinion
  • Campaign Finance
  • Redistricting
  • Civic Ed
  • Voting
  • Fact Check
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Congress>
  3. bipartisanship>

Infrastructure bill takes rare bipartisan step forward, but still faces loud opposition

Sara Swann
July 29, 2021
Senators talk infrastructure

Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema talks about the bipartisan infrastructure package alongside (from left) GOP Sens. Kevin Cramer, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Rob Portman.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Senate Democrats and Republicans took a significant step this week to advance a bipartisan infrastructure package. However, the deal is far from done.

The Senate's 67-32 vote Wednesday cleared the first procedural hurdle and put lawmakers on track to begin debate on the $1 trillion proposal soon. This development was a big win for congressional bipartisanship at a time when cooperation between the two parties is rare.

But despite being negotiated by a bipartisan group of 22 senators, the infrastructure deal still received harsh criticism from both the right and the left. And some lawmakers were also hesitant to support the deal because the legislation has yet to be written.


Sen. John Cornyn of Texas was one of the Republicans concerned with the lack of drafted legislation. "I'm encouraged that our colleagues have gotten us this far, but the bill's not ready, and we need to see the text and be given adequate time to read it," he said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Because the bill has yet to be drafted, the exact investments and cost off-sets are not set in stone. Those details are likely to determine how many Republicans ultimately support the package, promising a rocky path forward as debate on the legislation begins.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

While former President Donald Trump has already attempted to throw a wrench into negotiations by urging GOP lawmakers not to support the deal, lawmakers on the left aren't fully on board either.

Along with the infrastructure bill, Democrats are pushing a second $3.5 trillion package that includes other priorities for the Biden administration, such as expanding Medicare, support for families and children, and combating climate change. Democrats have said they want to move both packages in tandem.

However, on Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, one of the lead architects of the infrastructure deal, said she would not support the $3.5 trillion price tag for the second package. Democrats plan to use the reconciliation process for the second bill because such a maneuver cannot be blocked by a filibuster — but would likely require every Democrat to vote for it.

In response, progressive lawmakers pushed back, saying they would not support an infrastructure deal without the reconciliation package.

"The votes of the Congressional Progressive Caucus members are not guaranteed on any bipartisan package until we examine the details, and until the reconciliation bill is agreed to and passed with our priorities sufficiently funded," the caucus chair, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, wrote in a statement.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York more pointedly criticized Sinema for her stance.

Good luck tanking your own party’s investment on childcare, climate action, and infrastructure while presuming you’… https://t.co/irsrXS0s8A
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1627498173.0

While bipartisan agreement on infrastructure has proved difficult to achieve in Congress, recent polls have repeatedly shown a majority of Americans support such an investment in the country's roads, bridges, railways and broadband.

From Your Site Articles
  • Dark money group urges moderates to back infrastructure plan - The ... ›
  • Proof that bipartisanship exists in Congress - The Fulcrum ›
  • 5 stories to read about the bipartisan infrastructure deal - The Fulcrum ›
  • Most Americans approve of Biden's domestic priorities - The Fulcrum ›
  • Legislative stalemate is not a 'Sanders vs Manchin' issue - The Fulcrum ›
  • There is common ground on pieces of the reconciliation bill - The Fulcrum ›
  • Infrastructure past, present, and future - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Politico: Bipartisan infrastructure deal sails through first Senate vote ›
  • What's in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal - The New York Times ›
  • Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Moves Forward In The Senate : NPR ›
bipartisanship

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Texas leads the way

Lawrence Goldstone

Why the Founders would be aghast at the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling

Beau Breslin

Risks and rewards in a polarized nation: Businesses face tough choices after Roe v. Wade ruling

Richard Davies

The economic blame game, part 1: Blame your opponents

David L. Nevins

How a college freshman led the effort to honor titans of democracy reform

Jeremy Garson

Our poisonous age of absolutism

Jay Paterno
latest News

Coalition aims to recruit 100K veterans and military families to staff 2022 elections

David Meyers
4h

Video: David Levine & Georgia Election Official Joseph Kirk Discuss 2022 Primary

Our Staff
5h

Wait, what? Democrats are also funding election deniers?

Damon Effingham
8h

Podcast: The crucial role of political centrists

Our Staff
9h

Busy day ahead with primaries or runoffs in seven states

Richard Perrins
Reya Kumar
Kristin Shiuey
27 June

The state of voting: June 27, 2022

Our Staff
27 June
Videos

Video: Memorial Day 2022

Our Staff

Video: Helping loved ones divided by politics

Our Staff

Video: What happened in Virginia?

Our Staff

Video: Infrastructure past, present, and future

Our Staff

Video: Beyond the headlines SCOTUS 2021 - 2022

Our Staff

Video: Should we even have a debt limit

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Did economists move the Democrats to the right?

Our Staff
02 May

Podcast: The future of depolarization

Our Staff
11 February

Podcast: Sore losers are bad for democracy

Our Staff
20 January

Deconstructed Podcast from IVN

Our Staff
08 November 2021
Recommended
Retired Army Gen. George Casey

Coalition aims to recruit 100K veterans and military families to staff 2022 elections

Leadership
Video: David Levine & Georgia Election Official Joseph Kirk Discuss 2022 Primary

Video: David Levine & Georgia Election Official Joseph Kirk Discuss 2022 Primary

Elections
Doug Mastriano

Wait, what? Democrats are also funding election deniers?

Podcast: The crucial role of political centrists

Podcast: The crucial role of political centrists

Leadership
U.S. and Texas flags fly over the Texas Capitol

Texas leads the way

State
Founding Father John Dickinson

Why the Founders would be aghast at the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling

Judicial