AOC's latest comments show how 'complicated' infrastructure bill passage will be

published 1 August 2021

The Senate is growing optimistic about passing its nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill soon. The legislative text should be completed Sunday, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) indicated, and Manchin said he's hopeful the process can finish up by the end of the week. But that won't necessarily guarantee it gets to President Biden's desk.

As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) pointed out on Sunday's edition of State of the Union on CNN, the House needs to sign off on the package, as well, and she and her fellow progressive Democrats may wind up blocking it if the Senate is unable to also secure a larger budget proposal via reconciliation. "We have to hold on to that bargain," Ocasio-Cortez told host Jake Tapper, adding that she's also concerned about some of the pay-fors in the bipartisan bill. "Bipartisan doesn't always mean that it's in the interest of the public good," she said.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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