The White House has agreed to a sweeping, bipartisan compromise on infrastructure with at least 11 Republican senators saying they are in favor of the deal — but already, many Republicans are complaining because of President Joe Biden’s comment that he would only sign the bill if paired with a reconciliation bill that can be passed with Democratic votes alone.
The problem for Republicans, however, is that passing a reconciliation bill alongside the bipartisan bill was always on the table — and in fact some Republicans even suggested they were fine with Biden pursuing such a strategy.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who unsuccessfully headed up the first round of infrastructure talks, said that “we know that they have that option, we used that option in 2017,” and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said “My advice to the White House has been, take that bipartisan win … and then if you want to force the rest of the package on Republicans in the Congress and the country, you can certainly do that.” Continue reading.