The Senate on Wednesday agreed to take up a bipartisan infrastructure package, hours after senators and the White House announced they had reached a deal after weeks of closed-door haggling.
The Senate voted 67-32 to take the first procedural step toward debating the measure that has the support of Democratic President Joe Biden and to advance the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.
The bipartisan agreement, which follows months of negotiations, gained the support of all 48 Democrats, two independents, and 17 Republicans on this first procedural vote.
“The motion upon reconsideration is agreed to.”
67-32: “The motion upon reconsideration is agreed to.” pic.twitter.com/cOIqVVWkJD
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 28, 2021
Here are the 17 Republicans who voted with the Democrats to advance the bill:
- Roy Blunt of Missouri
- Richard Burr of North Carolina
- Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
- Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
- Susan Collins of Maine
- Kevin Cramer of North Dakota
- Mike Crapo of Idaho
- Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
- Chuck Grassley of Iowa
- John Hoeven of North Dakota
- Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
- Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
- Rob Portman of Ohio
- Jim Risch of Idaho
- Mitt Romney of Utah
- Thom Tillis of North Carolina
- Todd Young of Indiana
Big hurdles remain for the bill to reach a final vote, and negotiators are still finalizing text — the Senate is currently using a shell bill that will eventually include agreed-upon language.
Still, Wednesday represented a win for Biden and the negotiators.
Addressing a concern over funding among Republican lawmakers including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Portman said the package is “more than paid for” and added: “We look forward to moving ahead and having a healthy debate.”
The New York Times estimates that $1.2 trillion will be invested over the next eight years, with $550 billion going to roads, bridges, train lines, electric vehicles, water systems, and other programs.
To fight so-called climate change, Billions of dollars will also go to Marxist pet projects.
Before the senate will ultimately pass the bill, Wednesday’s vote to proceed to debate the bill is just one of the many steps.
On Wednesday night, the majority leader in the Senate, Senator Chuck Schumer gloated.
“We are going to get the job done and we are on track.”
Sources: Thegatewaypundit, Edition.cnn, Reuters, Thehill
“Chuckle Head” Schumer said “We are on track”….on track for what?…A socialist country.
The so-called republicans don’t about Americans any more than the democrats. Their spines are non-existent.
The vast majority of repugnantcans are rinos, just on different issues. Maybe they have a regular meeting at the start of the week to determine who is going to rino out on what issues. You can go back to the days of Lincoln and see pretty much the same pattern; democrats bully the repugnantcans who cave to their almost every demand, thinking that is what conservatives want. For the most part, a jelly fish has more spine than a repugnantcan politician.