CHARLESTON — Unable to bridge differences over the price tag, how to pay, and definitions, U.S. Sen. Shelly Moore Capito and President Joe Biden called off ongoing negotiations over a federal infrastructure package Tuesday.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Capito – the lead Republican on negotiations — said she was “disappointed” by Biden’s decision but would continue moving forward.
“After negotiating in good faith and making significant progress to move closer to what the president wanted, I am disappointed by his decision,” said Capito, R-W.Va.
Jen Psaki, press secretary for Biden, said that the White House will instead turn its attention to a new bipartisan infrastructure being negotiated by more moderate Senate Republicans and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
“(Biden) informed Senator Capito today that the latest offer from her group did not, in his view, meet the essential needs of our country to restore our roads and bridges, prepare us for our clean energy future, and create jobs,” Psaki said.
Capito said she spoke with Biden by phone Tuesday afternoon, who called to end the talks with the Senate Republican negotiating team, consisting of ranking members of the committees Biden will need to move his American Jobs Plan through the Senate.
“As Republicans, we believe in our nation’s infrastructure, which is why our negotiating team … consistently worked in good faith with President Biden and were optimistic that we could reach a bipartisan agreement for the sake of the country,” Capito said. “Throughout our negotiations, we engaged respectfully, fully, and very candidly–delivering several serious counteroffers that each represented the largest infrastructure investment Republicans have put forth.”
The most recent Senate Republican counteroffer for the Republican Roadmap — the alternative to the American Jobs Plan — increased the price tag from $568 billion to $928 billion spread out over eight years. The Republican Roadmap focused on traditional infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, public transportation, drinking water and wastewater, broadband, ports and waterways, airports, and rail. The plan was paid for through user fees, unused COVID-19 dollars, and increased collections of back taxes.
The White House presented a scaled-down version of the American Jobs Plan, reducing the original price tag from $2.3 trillion to $1.7 trillion. It included traditional infrastructure as well as funding for home care for seniors and the physically and developmentally disabled. The plan would be paid for by rolling back tax cuts put in place by Trump and raising corporate tax rates up to 28 percent to offset the spending over 15 years.
Despite coming up on the price, Republicans were unwilling to come up any further. The Biden Administration was unwilling to move off rolling back the Trump tax cuts. Both sides debated the definition of infrastructure, with Republicans reluctant to support “human infrastructure.”
“In our discussions with the president, he himself made it clear that he was willing to accept an offer around $1 trillion, that baseline spending would and could be included, and that a plan could stretch over an eight-year period of time. The president also understood one of our red lines, which was not undoing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which has helped so many Americans,” Capito said.
“(Biden) offered his gratitude to her for her efforts and good faith conversations, but expressed his disappointment that, while he was willing to reduce his plan by more than $1 trillion, the Republican group had increased their proposed new investments by only $150 billion,” Psaki said.
Biden is also encouraging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to continue work on the House Democrat’s infrastructure bill. In conversations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Biden told him to prepare to move the American Jobs Plan through the Senate using the budget reconciliation process, allowing certain bills to passed with only a simple majority instead of the 60 votes typically needed in the Senate.
Capito had been negotiating with Biden and the White House since April, making visits to the White House, meeting with Biden administration officials, talking on the phone with the President. Biden even gave Capito a shoutout during his joint address to Congress at the end of April.
Despite the setback, Capito was still encouraged by the progress made during negotiations. Capito also worked with Democratic colleagues on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to pass two bills unanimously dealing with water and transportation infrastructure.
“This does not mean bipartisanship isn’t feasible,” Capito said. “The Senate EPW Committee continues to demonstrate bipartisan action on infrastructure … Moving forward, I will continue building on this momentum and working with my colleagues to advance bipartisan solutions like these.”
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Capito, Biden break off infrastructure talks | News, Sports, Jobs - The Inter-Mountain
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