President Joe Biden laid out what he called a “bold” plan to rebuild U.S. infrastructure, but now needs an equally ambitious effort to wrangle it through Congress in the face of Republican opposition and criticism from within his Democratic Party.
Biden, in a speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh, invoked the great public investments of the past—the transcontinental railroad, the interstate highway system and the space program—to sell his idea to spend $2.25 trillion over eight years on a menu of projects, from bolstering the electrical grid to upgrading childcare facilities.
“This is not a plan that tinkers around the edges. It’s a once in a generation investment in America,” Biden said. “It’s big, yes. It’s bold, yes. And we can get it done.”
But illustrating the challenges Biden’s plan faces getting through Congress, it drew quick criticism from Republicans, who said they wanted no part of the corporate tax hikes he proposes to pay for it. Some progressive Democrats, meanwhile, said it would not spend nearly enough.
The competing pressures mean Biden’s proposal likely will have to be broken up into two or even three pieces of legislation that may ultimately differ significantly from the administration’s plan. Some parts will need Republican support to make it through the Senate, while other provisions may be put into fast-track budget bills that need only Democratic votes to pass.
Biden held out hope for bringing at least some Republicans on board.
“The divisions of the moment shouldn’t stop us from doing the right thing for the future,” he said. “We’ll have a good faith negotiation with any Republican who wants to help get this done. But we have to get it done.”
He called Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell the day before his speech to brief him on the proposal. But he made little headway.
McConnell labeled Biden’s plan a “Trojan horse” for tax hikes and liberal social policy changes that Republicans want no part of.
“This is not a very bipartisan period we’re in right now,” McConnell said Wednesday at an event in Kentucky.
Tax Increases
While many of the physical infrastructure projects Biden proposes would likely have bipartisan support, the biggest obstacle is agreeing on how to pay for them. Biden would boost the corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21%, which was set in former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cut. Businesses also would pay significantly more on their global earnings. He also proposes to eliminate all fossil-fuel tax breaks and repealing incentives to move assets and jobs offshore.
“We can work together to find common-sense ways to pay for real infrastructure legislation without resorting to partisan tax hikes that will hurt our economy,” Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman said.
Several business lobby groups in Washington also issued statements criticizing the proposed tax increases.
Portman was one of 10 GOP senators invited to the White House in February to negotiate a pandemic relief bill with Biden, though the president ultimately chose to push a partisan, $1.9 trillion measure through Congress without Republican votes.
Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said the Biden plan is far too small.
“We believe that our country is ready for an even bolder, more comprehensive and integrated plan,” she said. “It makes little sense to narrow his previous ambition on infrastructure or compromise with the physical realities of climate change.”
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent voice among young liberals, called Biden’s plan “admirable.”
“But even if you have the vision that the Biden administration has put forward, my concern is that they have allocated $2.25 trillion over about eight years to act out on this vision and it’s just not enough,” she said at a virtual town hall Wednesday night.