- McConnell pulled back from his previous red line on the cost of an infrastructure package, increasing it to $ 800 billion.
- But he didn’t crack down on his opposition to repeal Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
- Biden and McConnell will meet with other congressional leaders on Wednesday.
- You can find more articles on Insider’s business page.
Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell raises the cost of an infrastructure package the GOP is considering to $ 800 billion.
“The right price for what most of us consider infrastructure is $ 6 billion to $ 800 billion,” McConnell said in an interview with Kentucky Educational Television that aired Sunday night.
– The recount (@therecount) May 10, 2021
“What we have here … is what can best be called bait and switch, which is called infrastructure but is much bigger, with a whole laundry list of other things and a complete overhaul of 2017 tax legislation,” he said, referring to President Donald Trump’s signature tax bill, which cut corporate taxes from 35% to 21%.
McConnell did not move from his opposition to an amendment to the Republican tax law, saying that usage fees such as the gas tax hike could be used to fund new federal infrastructure spending.
“As a price to continue developing this big package, much of which has nothing to do with infrastructure, they want Republicans to undo what we thought was the greatest domestic achievement in four years,” he said Republicans from Kentucky. “That won’t get any Republican support.”
McConnell’s remarks could signal optimism about the prospect of a bipartisan infrastructure and jobs deal that will be a central item on President Joe Biden’s agenda over the next few months. Democrats can choose to approve most of the plan in a party line vote using the budget vote if no agreement is reached.
Biden will receive the “Big Four” leaders of the White House on Wednesday – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and McConnell. It is the first time the group has met in Biden’s presidency.
Among other things, Biden is driving a $ 4 trillion spending plan to overhaul the U.S. economy and repair roads and bridges, extend family tax credits, establish universal preschool and affordable childcare.
The GOP is uniformly against Biden’s economic plans. But a group of Senate Republicans led by West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito drew up a $ 568 billion infrastructure plan last month to kickstart negotiations with the White House.
This proposal mainly focuses on physical infrastructures such as highways and bridges, water systems and broadband areas with bipartisan agreement. Capito and some Republicans will also be meeting with Biden this week.
Biden has proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, which is a partial undoing of Trump’s tax cuts. However, at least two Democratic senators are reluctant to reach this level and propose 25% instead. The president suggested that he be open to it on Thursday.