Senate votes to advance bipartisan infrastructure proposal

The Republican negotiators who worked on the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 28 July 2021

The Senate voted 67-32 on Wednesday evening to open formal debate on a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure proposal.

It took several months for the group of negotiators to reach a deal on the package to fix aging bridges, roads, pipes, and ports across the United States and improve internet connections in rural areas. Seventeen Republicans joined Democrats to vote in favor of starting debate on infrastructure reform this week, and now, the legislation must be drafted.

President Biden has been pushing for an infrastructure bill, and in the spring put forward a $2 trillion plan that was rejected by Republicans. Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Biden said he feels "confident" about this new bipartisan proposal, and later tweeted that this "historic" deal is "the largest infrastructure bill in a century. It will grow the economy, create good-paying jobs, and set America on a path to win the future."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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