Republicans say they aren’t ready to advance a $1 trillion infrastructure measure that faces a key test vote Wednesday, but Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is urging them to reconsider.
“Senators of goodwill on both sides want to finish the bipartisan infrastructure bill before the August recess,” the New York Democrat said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “That’s certainly my goal. But in order to finish the bill, we first need to agree to start.”
Wednesday’s vote would allow senators to begin debating the measure.
REPUBLICANS SIGNAL TROUBLE AHEAD OF WEDNESDAY TEST VOTE ON INFRASTRUCTURE
Schumer pledged to hesitant Republicans he will allow amendments on the legislation and that the measure he plans to bring up for a vote is only a “shell” bill and not the detailed and final measure that, later on, would require another bipartisan vote to advance.
“If senators agree to start debate, there will be many, many opportunities for the bipartisan group to make their agreement the base of the bill,” Schumer said.
Republicans said they don’t want to vote for legislation that does not yet exist in text form. The proposal is only in framework form, and GOP lawmakers say there are roughly a dozen outstanding issues they want resolved before the Senate takes the first vote.
The GOP does not want the measure to contribute to the nation’s debt, for example, but the two parties are struggling to agree on ways to pay for the bill, and Republicans rejected a plan to provide the IRS more funding to increase tax revenue receipts through better enforcement.
Schumer said lawmakers should start debating the measure even though it is not finished.
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“Once it is on the floor, we can then debate, amend, and work from there,” Schumer said. “It is not the final word.”
Democrats want to pass the bill ahead of the traditional summer recess that begins the second week in August. Schumer warned lawmakers the Senate will remain in session into the recess in order to pass infrastructure legislation.
