Sharjah24 – AFP: Republican lawmakers have rejected a new White House infrastructure proposal that lowers the overall price tag in a bid to gain the opposition party's support, potentially raising the likelihood President Joe Biden's Democrats pass the measure on their own.
The White House on Friday had proposed reducing the cost of the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan to $1.7 trillion by having other bills cover some of the projects it would pay for and cutting out some spending altogether, but a key Republican lawmaker said she still wouldn't support it.
"There continue to be vast differences between the White House and Senate Republicans when it comes to the definition of infrastructure, the magnitude of proposed spending and how to pay for it," said a spokeswoman for Shelley Moore Capito, who is part of a group of Republican senators negotiating with the Biden administration over the proposal.
"Based on today's meeting, the groups seem further apart after two meetings with White House staff than they were after one meeting with President Biden. Senate Republicans will further review the details in today's counteroffer and continue to engage in conversations with the administration."
Biden had in March proposed the measure that would direct money towards fixing roads and bridges as well as expanding services like broadband internet and increasing climate change resiliency across the United States.
But with his Democratic Party controlling Congress by a small margin, he is under pressure to find Republican support for the bill, and on Friday Press Secretary Jen Psaki said he would cut its cost down by $500 billion "in the spirit of finding common ground."
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