House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) announced Wednesday that he will whip Republicans against the $1.2 trillion so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.
Scalise told Republican Study Committee (RSC) members at a lunch that the House Republican leadership will whip Republicans against the $1.2 trillion so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill, otherwise known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Despite its moniker, the legislation does not contain any Republican or conservative victories, and spends only a fraction of its $1.2 trillion price on physical infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.
The House will vote on the legislation on September 27; the legislation passed through the Senate with the help of 19 Senate Republicans in August.
Scalise said in his whip notice that the bipartisan infrastructure bill is inherently linked to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill and that Republicans must oppose the bill because of this:
Leadership recommends a NO vote.
Speaker Pelosi has made it clear that the Senate infrastructure bill is now inextricably linked to her extremist, socialist $3.5 trillion tax and spend bill. Now that the multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill will not be ready for the floor in time for the self-imposed deadline of September 27th due to disarray within her caucus, Democrats are moving forward with the Senate infrastructure bill which has become the gateway to passage of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. It is abundantly clear that the far left’s multi-trillion-dollar tax increases on working families and small businesses will result in even higher inflation that will drive up prices, destroy millions of jobs and undermine wages, while adding trillions more dollars to the national debt. There is no question that Republicans vehemently oppose the reckless policies included in the reconciliation bill and Speaker Pelosi’s legislative strategy solidifies that a vote for the infrastructure bill paves the way for passage of reconciliation – Republicans should not aid in this destructive process.
Scalise’s team emphasized that the bill would only add to the deficit, that it will contain leftist carveouts, and that it fails to make reforms that would make it easier to develop American infrastructure:
Senate Infrastructure Bill:
- Provides $550 billion in new spending over 5 years, but less than half of the new spending goes towards traditional infrastructure.
- Adds additional inflationary spending into an underperforming economy by failing to fully offset the bill – CBO estimates only $180 billion in pay-for offsets, adding $256 billion to projected deficits over the next 10 years.
- Gives the Department of Energy tens of billions of dollars in a Solyndra style slush fund.
- Fails to include any meaningful National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting reforms, which means that infrastructure projects included in this package will continue to be delayed by Washington red tape.
Scalise’s announcement follows as Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), urged Republicans to oppose the legislation during a press conference Tuesday.
Banks called the legislation a “fake infrastructure bill” and noted that the bill is full of leftist carveouts such as funding for “zero-emission vehicles.”
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the bill would add $256 billion to the deficit, and the Penn-Wharton Budget Model said the bill would add no “significant” level of economic growth.
The bipartisan infrastructure would also advance leftist priorities by:
- Defines “gender identity” as a protected class.
- Doles out “digital equity” grants partly based on racial or ethnic minority status.
- State-mandated carbon reduction program
- Contains funding for “zero-emission vehicles”
- Addresses “over-the-road bus tolling equity”
- Contains the word “equity” 64 times
- Provides roughly $2.5 billion to help the U.S. government expand the border processing stations used by migrants from poor Central American nations and other regions around the world.
CNN reporter Melanie Zanona noted Wednesday that with former President Donald Trump and House Republican leadership against the bill, “it will make it harder for Dems to peel off significant GOP support.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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