The infrastructure spotlight shifts stage left


Is Infrastructure Week finally here? Like the burst of smoke announcing the election of a new pope, President Biden emerged from the West Wing Thursday to announce a $1.2 trillion bipartisan deal.
"We made serious compromises on both ends," he said as he thanked the group of Republican and Democratic senators. "They have my word, I'll stick with what we've proposed, and they've given me their word as well."
So is the new plan shovel-ready? Not so fast! Biden's infrastructure dance may simply shift from being a complicated negotiation with centrists like Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to a whole new set of headaches coming from the left.
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.
That's because Democrats are committed to a two-pronged approach to infrastructure: one bipartisan bill filled with traditional physical projects that Republicans can support, another filled with liberal policy priorities that Democrats can pass by themselves using the reconciliation process.
Progressives are fearful that if they aren't careful, the bipartisan bill is all they'll get and their other proposals will be left to die in the Senate. So House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is vowing to guard against that outcome. "There ain't going to be no bipartisan bill unless we have the reconciliation bill," she told reporters on Thursday.
Up to this point, Sinema and Manchin have held all the cards. They are the key swing votes in a 50-50 Senate. Liberals have grumbled about things they dislike, but have mostly gone along with the White House because the alternative is not getting anything passed.
Infrastructure is a major opportunity for Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) to flex their muscles. Remember: to them, the more than $2 trillion opening bid from Biden was the compromise. Some of the left wanted an infrastructure and climate package to top $10 trillion.
That's not going to happen. But liberals don't have to let infrastructure be a project of Manchin and the GOP. They can gum up the works themselves, because their votes are just as necessary with such slim Democratic majorities.
How Biden navigates this will be the next big test for whether he can truly seal the deal.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Trump's strikes on Iran: a 'spectacular success'?
In Depth Military humiliations 'expose the brittleness' of Tehran's ageing regime, but risk reinforcing its commitment to its nuclear program
-
Some mainstream Democrats struggle with Zohran Mamdani's surprise win
TALKING POINT To embrace or not embrace? A party in transition grapples with a rising star ready to buck political norms and energize a new generation.
-
Is Trump sidelining Congress' war powers?
Today's Big Question The Iran attack renews a long-running debate
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Why are lobbyists trying to kill Trump's 'revenge tax'?
Today's Big Question Analysts say it would deter foreign investment
-
DNC rocked by high-profile departures as future is in question
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Generational shifts, ambiguous priorities, and the intensifying dangers of the Trump administration have pushed the organization into uncertain territory
-
Trump tells ICE to hit blue cities, spare farms, hotels
Speed Read Trump has targeted New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles among other cities
-
Is Trump's military parade 'just a parade'?
Talking Point Critics see an 'echo of authoritarianism'
-
'It was also a gift to music-lovers'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day