GOP lawmakers express bipartisan infrastructure deal support following Biden’s clarification [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH.) said Sunday that the bipartisan infrastructure deal will be supported by GOP lawmakers, following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would sign the bill even without the ‘reconciliation’ package.
• Biden earlier noted that he would not sign the deal unless it comes with another bill.
• Administration officials described the issues in the reconciliation package as a “human infrastructure” deal.

GOP Senator Rob Portman (R) revealed on Sunday that President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure package can pass the Senate after the president clarified that he will still enact the measure despite not having the ‘reconciliation’ plan.

Last week, Biden said that he will reject the deal except if a pair of bills will arrive on the table. The statement, though, faced strong criticisms from Republican legislators.

Following GOP’s backlash, one from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY.), the president issued a comprehensive statement Saturday, backtracking his previous statements while reaffirming his full support for the legislation.

“We were all blindsided by the comments the previous day, which were that these two bills were connected,” Portman told ABC’s This Week.

“I’m glad they’ve been de-linked and it’s very clear that we can move forward with a bipartisan bill that’s broadly popular not just among members of Congress, but the American people,” Portman added, as he noted so far, negotiations from both sides have been in “good faith.”

Biden has also asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to set the bipartisan deal and reconciliation bill to be tackled in the Senate as he expects both measures to reach the House.

The included issues in the reconciliation package were described as “human infrastructure” by administration officials as the bipartisan infrastructure mainly caters funding to public roads, bridges and the like.

Speaking with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA.) said that McConnell would likely support the infrastructure deal; he just “did not like the president throwing a wrench in there.”

Deal negotiator and GOP Senator Mitt Romney (UT.) said that he was confident that his fellow members will back the infrastructure bill and that Biden will have it signed.

“A lot of my colleagues were very concerned about what the president was saying … but I think the waters have been calmed by what he said on Saturday,” Romney told CNN’s State of the Union.

Known as the American Families Plan, this second measure would allocate funds from Democrat-led concerns such as child care, health care and education, and climate change. These inclusions can be passed via reconciliation which would no longer require to summon votes from Congress.

Source: CNBC.com