24th June, 2021
Agency Reports
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators said on Wednesday it had reached agreement on a framework for a $1.2 trillion infrastructure investment plan.
The group said that it planned to present the deal to the White House on Thursday.
A Democratic negotiator, Joe Manchin, said White House officials had signed off on the deal.
The group of 21 senators, or “G-21,” has been working on an eight-year bipartisan framework to rebuild roads, bridges and other traditional infrastructure sought by Democratic President Joe Biden.
A team of White House officials met during the afternoon with nine Democrats, one independent and 11 Republicans in the Senate, and was due to sit down with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 7:30 p.m. (2330 GMT).
The White House turned its attention to the group of 21 senators after Biden rejected a Republican infrastructure proposal just over two weeks ago.
Asked earlier in the evening how he felt about the bipartisan infrastructure plan, Biden told reporters: “I’ll tell you that when I get the final numbers tonight.”
A sticking point is how to pay for it.
Biden has pledged not to increase taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000 a year, while Republicans are determined to protect a 2017 cut in corporate taxes.
Reuters via NAN