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No senator in Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s inner circle knew he was about to support Biden’s infrastructure bill “until moments before the vote,” Politico reports.
The fact he played it so close to the chest “reflects deep divisions in his conference over whether to hand Biden a victory.”
Wall Street Journal: “For President Biden and the group of senators who negotiated it, the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure agreement vindicates a long-held belief: With enough time, effort and expertise, bipartisanship on a major issue is still possible in a rancorously divided Washington.”
“But the agreement—which cleared an initial procedural step in the Senate with broad bipartisan support on Wednesday and faces several more hurdles before it can become law—also took place in a context that may be difficult to replicate in coming legislative efforts.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) criticized the “inconsistency” of Republicans who were all-in for President Donald Trump’s infrastructure ideas but aren’t supporting the $550 billion bipartisan deal reached this week, Bloomberg reports.
Said Cassidy: “President Donald Trump recommended a $1.5 trillion infrastructure package. Republicans were all on board. If Republicans were on board for former President Trump, we are one-third the cost and have it paid for, it seems like something that should be acceptable.”
Republicans are accusing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of trying to substitute his own version of the bipartisan infrastructure agreement as the base text of the bill that differs from the actual deal, CNN reports.
Former President Trump is ramping up his pressure campaign over a bipartisan infrastructure package, accusing Senate Republicans of “caving” to Democrats on the deal, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “Once they pass this bill out of the Senate, it will sit in the House until they get steamrolled by the biggest government expansion in a generation. Tax increases on everyone, government run health care, more government run schools, amnesty for illegal immigrants, MASKS, and many more terrible socialist programs.”
He added: “Nancy Pelosi has said NO INFRASTRUCTURE until they get everything else.”
NBC News: “McConnell’s incentives are more complicated than the ‘Dr. No’ image he has cultivated over a decade and a half as the Senate Republican leader, according to senators and aides familiar with his thinking, as well as Democratic antagonists. By acquiescing to a deal, he can reward Republican allies, head off Democratic efforts to end the filibuster and even score some popular goodies for his state.”
Related for members: Biden Gains the Upper Hand on Mitch McConnell
Carl Levin, a liberal Michigan Democrat who served 36 years in the Senate and scared the wits out of America’s biggest CEOs by demanding explanations for shadowy schemes that hid billions in profits overseas and avoided vast corporate taxes at home, died on Thursday at the age 87, the New York Times reports.
Washington Post: “If Schumer can pull it off in the coming weeks, it would rank among the most significant feats of lawmaking in recent American history.”
Playbook: “When Chuck Schumer announced earlier this month that he might keep the Senate in session into August — delaying a previously scheduled recess in order to shepherd the two gigantic bills through the chamber — Sinema told the majority leader that she was not sticking around to vote.”
“She had prior vacation plans, she said, and wasn’t about to let the infrastructure or reconciliation bills get in the way.”
“Nearly 40 maskless House Republican lawmakers walked across the Capitol and onto the Senate floor in protest of the Capitol physician’s decision to reinstate a mask mandate in the lower chamber but not in the upper chamber,” The Hill reports.
“Congress on Thursday rapidly cleared a $2.1 billion emergency spending package that will avert a Capitol Police funding crisis sparked by the Jan. 6 riot and also provide urgent funds to evacuate and resettle Afghans who aided U.S. forces during the 20-year war in their homeland,” the Washington Post reports.
“Leaders of the Capitol Police and National Guard units warned of imminent cuts if Congress did not act to backfill expenditures made in the wake of the Capitol attack, and lawmakers responded swiftly by congressional standards, delivering a bipartisan package that advanced to the Senate floor with relatively little drama.”
Punchbowl News: “And it’s Thursday — which may not be a ‘Senate Friday’ this week. The Senate just might stay in session this Friday. And Saturday. And Sunday. We were told that a weekend session is unusually likely this time around.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that all 50 Democrats will vote to move forward on the party’s $3.5 trillion social spending proposal, Politico reports.
Said Schumer: “I’m proud of my Democratic caucus, every one of them voting yesterday for this bill and all pledging to go forward on the second track as well.”
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told CNN that he supports moving ahead on the Democrats’ budget resolution, which would pave the way for taking up the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.
Said Manchin: “We should move forward with the budget resolution because you got to get on the bill to work.”
Josh Marshall: “I think this is best interpreted as Sinema throwing up a flag that she’s going to continue to preen and create drama for the purpose of building a reputation as an uber-‘moderate’ and generally have everyone kiss up to her.”
“She wants to come out of this as the person who wasn’t totally down with Democratic priorities and shaved the numbers down, at least a bit. If she really wanted to stop the process she wouldn’t vote to let it begin, which she is. That tells you the story.”
Former President Trump lashed out at Senate Republicans after the upper chamber voted to take up debate on a bipartisan infrastructure package, accusing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and “RINOs” for surrendering to Democrats, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “Under the weak leadership of Mitch McConnell, Senate Republicans continue to lose. He lost Arizona, he lost Georgia, he ignored Election Fraud and he doesn’t fight.”
He added: “Now he’s giving Democrats everything they want and getting nothing in return. No deal is better than a bad deal. Fight for America, not for special interests and Radical Democrats. RINOs are ruining America, right alongside Communist Democrats.”
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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) wrote an NBC News op-ed praising Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) for the bipartisan infrastructure deal:
“It’s rare to have an elected official from one party publicly praising another from the opposite party, but I’m doing just that because it’s so essential for the future of our nation that Sinema holds fast in keeping the filibuster intact.”
“From Barry Goldwater to John McCain, Arizona has had its fair share of mavericks in the U.S. Senate. Arizonans should be proud of Sinema for standing firm in preserving the filibuster and sticking to her principles when they matter the most.”
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.