Senate votes to advance bipartisan infrastructure proposal

The Republican negotiators who worked on the bipartisan infrastructure deal.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up

The proposal includes $40 billion for bridges, $39 billion to modernize transit, and $55 billion for water infrastructure — enough to replace every lead pipe in the U.S., the Biden administration said.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.