GOP senators say bipartisan infrastructure deal is back on track after Biden's clarification. Manchin backs 2nd bill.

Senate Republicans on Sunday appear to have accepted President Biden's clarification on the landmark bipartisan infrastructure deal announced last week — or at least the Senate Republicans who helped negotiate the package.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told CNN's State of the Union that "the waters have been calmed" by Biden's statement that he would sign the bill even without a second, Democrats-only package on his desk. Republicans "were glad to see them disconnected," Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a lead negotiator, said on ABC's This Week. "And now we can move forward."
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said bipartisan bill is needed but linking them together had endangered its passage. "If we can pull this off, I think [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch [McConnell (R-Ky.)] will favor it," he said on NBC's Meet the Press. "He didn't like the president throwing the wrench in there saying, 'Listen, the two are tied together.'"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), one of the Democratic negotiators, told CBS's Face the Nation he thinks the legislation "will get far more than 60 votes in the end." Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) also sounded an optimistic note on the infrastructure package on This Week, but he said he could support the second American Families Plan as well, if Democrats paid for the bill.
Manchin said he would like to raise the corporate tax rate to 25 percent, from 21 percent, and tax capital gains at 28 percent, and if Republicans won't get on board, he would be open to do it without them through the budget reconciliation process. The "human infrastructure" package couldn't get his support if it reached the $6 trillion price tag Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is talking about, Manchin said. "If they think in reconciliation I'm going to throw caution to the wind and go to $5 trillion or $6 trillion when we can only afford $1 trillion or $1.5 trillion or maybe $2 trillion and what we can pay for, then I can't be there."
Biden has to get progressive Democrats to support the infrastructure package for it to pass, also, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Meet the Press that "it's very important for the president to know that House progressives and the Democratic caucus are here to ensure he doesn't fail." Collaborating with Republicans is good, she added, but "that doesn't mean that the president should be limited by Republicans."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Who has to pay the estate tax?
the explainer Trump's new bill will permanently shift who owes federal estate tax
-
'Trucking is a dangerous business'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump