Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Wednesday night said she is "optimistic" that a bipartisan group of senators and White House aides have had "a breakthrough" on infrastructure negotiations.
The senators — five Republicans and five Democrats — will meet with President Biden on Thursday to brief him on the framework for an infrastructure package. "We came to an agreement on the plan that we have, and it's just a matter of trying to wrap it up tomorrow," Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said.
Lawmakers involved in the negotiations told Politico the agreement is similar to an earlier $579 billion plan and focuses on physical infrastructure. There are still several details that need to be finalized, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said, adding, "We haven't written this down yet, and in terms of legislation, there's going to be a lot that happens down the road. But we've agreed on a framework and we're going to head to the White House."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden invited the senators to the White House to discuss "progress towards an outline of a potential agreement." Before this current group of lawmakers came together, Biden was negotiating an infrastructure deal with other senators, led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), but the talks fell apart after several weeks.