A Democrat proposal to Senate Republicans has threatened to unravel the progress made on the bipartisan infrastructure deal.
Democrats in the Joe Biden administration and on Capitol Hill sent Senate Republicans involved in the bipartisan infrastructure negotiations a “global offer,” to resolve the many issues plaguing the infrastructure compromise.
Senate Republicans complained that the bill “goes against” what Republicans and Democrats have already agreed to, according to Punchbowl News reporter John Bresnahan.
Further, the Senate Republicans said that the bill could reopen issues that the two sides have resolved.
“The ‘global offer’ we received from the White House and Chuck Schumer was discouraging since it attempts to reopen numerous issues the bipartisan group had already agreed to,” a GOP source familiar with the negotiations told Punchbowl News.
“If this is going to be successful, the White House will need to show more flexibility as Republicans have done and listen to the members of the group that produced this framework,” the source said.
Although some members of the bipartisan infrastructure have signaled that they remain very close to a deal, reports suggest they still have to resolve many issues.
Republicans and Democrats still have to resolve issues surrounding highways and bridges, water funding, broadband, and the Davis-Bacon requirements. Davis-Bacon requires that federally-funded contractors and projects cannot pay their employees less than the “prevailing wage.”
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) — a member of the bipartisan group — said Sunday, “We’re about 90% of the way there — I feel good about getting that done this week. We have one issue outstanding, and we’re not getting much response from the Democrats on it.”
The Ohio Republican said, “It’s about mass transit. Our transit number is very generous.”
Democrat sources also told Politico, “On Sunday night, Democratic negotiators, including the White House, sent the Republicans a global offer to finish every major open item.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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