In interviews Sunday, several GOP lawmakers predicted the agreement would be successful after Biden issued a lengthy statement Saturday asserting that he was not tying the deal to other parts of his agenda.
President Biden appears to have salvaged a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal, after two days of uncertainty in which GOP lawmakers took issue with remarks by Biden suggesting he would not sign the agreement unless it was linked with another proposal that included more spending for other Democratic priorities. In interviews Sunday, several Republican lawmakers resumed an optimistic tone, predicting the bipartisan infrastructure bill would be successful after Biden issued a lengthy statement Saturday asserting that his comments had not amounted to a veto threat. “I do trust the president,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And he made very clear in the much larger statement that came out over the weekend, carefully crafted and thought through piece by piece, that, if the infrastructure bill reaches his desk, and it comes alone, he will sign it.” On Thursday, shortly after triumphantly announcing that Democrats and Republicans had reached an agreement on the $973 billion package, Biden told reporters he would sign it only in tandem with his American Families Plan, a separate bill that includes spending on items Democrats have argued are also critical infrastructure, such as child care and clean-energy investments. “If this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it,” Biden said then. “It’s in tandem.” Biden’s remarks prompted uproar by GOP lawmakers, who said they were blindsided and accused Biden of carrying out a bait-and-switch. Some Democrats said Republicans should have known all along that they intended to pursue comprehensive infrastructure investments on two separate tracks. On Saturday, Biden walked back his remarks somewhat, saying he had not intended to issue a veto threat and that he intended to support the infrastructure plan “without reservation or hesitation.” “Our bipartisan agreement does not preclude Republicans from attempting to defeat my Families Plan; likewise, they should have no objections to my devoted efforts to pass that Families Plan and other proposals in tandem,” Biden stated.
