United States: Joe Biden lands bipartisan infrastructure deal

Published on : 06/25/2021 – 05:20

Joe Biden has achieved clear success after months of negotiations. At the end of a long-awaited meeting, the US president announced Thursday, June 24, that he had reached an agreement with a group of ten Republican and Democratic senators on a plan for massive investments in infrastructure.

This plan is based on more than $ 1,200 billion in investments over eight years ($ 973 billion over five years), said the White House, including $ 312 billion in transport, including roads and airports, and $ 266 billion. in other types of infrastructure such as those allowing water transport, or high-speed Internet.

For the Democratic president, elected on a promise to reconcile America, this agreement demonstrates that “American democracy works and can get results.”

If it represents a major step forward, it does not however mark the end of the discussions. “I have no guarantee” of having the votes to get this bill through the Senate, admitted Biden, while showing his optimism. “Neither party got everything they wanted,” he said, assuring that this was the price to pay to get consensus.

Concessions to reach agreement

It was the question of funding that had so far been the biggest obstacle to a deal.

The senators managed not to touch the main red lines of each of the parties – tax increases on companies or taxes affecting the middle class, in particular – but a certain vagueness remains on the effective financing of these investments.

Stingy in detail, the agreement in principle mentions in particular a strengthening of tax inspections to “reduce” the amount of unpaid taxes, the use of funds already released in 2020 to fight the pandemic or even the productive “impact” on the economics of these investments themselves.

“We have all made concessions,” said centrist Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who led the negotiations with Republican Rob Portman to obtain this “historic investment”.

A social project defended by the democrats

Both leaders of the Democratic majorities in Congress stressed on Thursday that this plan should imperatively go hand in hand with the development of another large bill that would include other key priorities of the Biden administration.

After months of discussions, the negotiations are moving towards two parallel tracks. On the one hand, this plan on “traditional” infrastructures, bridges, roads, airports, etc. And on the other, the Biden priorities that Democrats have dubbed “family infrastructure” or “human”.

Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi firmly indicated Thursday that she would not organize a vote on the consensus text between Republicans and Democrats on infrastructure “unless” the Senate also approves the other project Democrat, who should understand the main social priorities of the Biden administration – help for the elderly, childcare, etc. – and its major measures to combat climate change.

A statement applauded by figures from the left wing of the party, such as House elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The Democratic leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, told him Thursday morning “encouraged” by the agreement between senators, while recalling that he still intended to advance on this double track of “related” projects., “We must accomplish both, “added Joe Biden, urging Congress to advance these projects” quickly and in tandem. “

However, the leader of the Republican minority in the Senate rose up against this plan. “Less than two hours after publicly congratulating our colleagues and in effect approving the bipartisan agreement, the president took the extraordinary step of threatening to veto it,” he told the Senate.

Votes from July 12

The balance to maintain agreements on both sides, however, promises to be very delicate. If they want the bills to survive, Democratic leaders must ensure the support of both their more conservative and more progressive elected officials, while maintaining that of the Republicans centrist on infrastructure.

Chuck Schumer has planned to organize the first procedural votes on infrastructure as soon as the senators “return”, who left Thursday evening on parliamentary recess until July 12.

At the same time, he announced that he intended to organize “as quickly as possible” the other vote on a budget text of “reconciliation”, a sort of legislative vehicle which should ultimately allow the adoption of the second part of the Biden program. with the only democratic ways.

With AFP