View of the Capitol building in Washington DC,
Photo: EFE / MICHAEL REYNOLDS
The United States Senate is working against the clock today on an exceptional day to be ready as soon as possible and be able to vote the text of the infrastructure plan promoted by President Joe Biden, before the August break.
The leader of the Democratic majority in the Upper House, Chuck Schumer, admitted at the beginning of the session that writing such an ambitious plan “is a difficult project”, but at the same time he asked his colleagues for speed and reminded them that they will stay in the Senate until the text is complete.
Once you have a finished version of the infrastructure plan, it will be possible to proceed to the vote of individual amendments presented by the different senators, and finally the vote of the whole of the proposal will take place, something that most likely will not happen until the beginning of next week.
On the 28th, the infrastructure plan received the endorsement of the Senate, which voted to debate the initiative after weeks of discussions between Democrats and Republicans.
The result shows the will of the two parties to approve one of Biden’s most important plans, which seeks to invest approximately one trillion dollars over 8 years in the reconstruction of bridges, railroads, ports and airports in the country.
It took several Republican senators to vote in favor of the bill because Democrats have a narrow majority of 50 seats, not enough to pass the measure alone. In most cases, 60 votes are needed.
A month ago, Biden and a group of 22 Democratic and Republican senators announced that they had reached an agreement, but later negotiations were complicated, especially by Republicans’ reluctance about how infrastructure investment will be financed.
In March, President Joe Biden proposed a $ 2.3 trillion investment in infrastructure but the White House had to downgrade it amid criticism from Republicans.
The goal of Biden’s plan is to modernize what he has called “physical infrastructure”: roads, bridges, railways, ports and airports, among others.