Pass It to Find Out What’s In It: Republicans Prepare to Vote for ‘Infrastructure’ Bill that Does Not Yet Exist

Republicans remain poised to vote for a bipartisan infrastructure bill that does not yet exist.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced on the Senate floor Wednesday morning that senators involved in the bipartisan infrastructure bill negotiations “continue to make good progress” and that the chamber should be prepared to vote on advancing the bill “as early as tonight.”

Senators involved in the bipartisan negotiations struck a tentative deal last month but have yet to finalize the compromise. Despite Schumer’s announcement, lawmakers involved in the negotiations have yet to draft the infrastructure bill.

This means that Republican lawmakers could vote to advance legislation past cloture without knowing exactly what they are voting to advance.

Senate Republicans blocked the legislation last week when Schumer filed cloture on H.R. 3684, the legislative vehicle for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Senate Democrats overwhelmingly voted for the measure, while Republicans blocked the bill, wanting to see a physical bill before they vote.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), along with Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Braun (R-IN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) have rallied against the bipartisan infrastructure bill, charging that the bill would only enable Democrats’ leftist agenda.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Breitbart News that negotiating with Democrats on the bipartisan infrastructure bill would only be “complicit” in enabling the Democrat agenda.

Johnson told Breitbart News that if Republicans are “cooperative and complicit” with the $1 trillion bipartisan bill, the Democrat bill is “just going to be backfilled with more long-term entitlements, welfare, liberal, radical wish list spending proposals.”

The Club for Growth sent out a letter to Republican lawmakers, saying that Senate Republicans that support the bipartisan bill would only enable the “socialist” multi-trillion dollar reconciliation bill.

David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth, said in a statement in July, “Any Senator that supports the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal is also explicitly supporting the radical socialist reconciliation bill and $4.7 trillion in total spending.”

He added, “This deal is a gateway drug that will lead to trillions in unnecessary spending and an increase in our debt limit which we can’t afford and don’t need.”