A 2,700-page bipartisan infrastructure bill was headed to Senate desks Sunday with promises it will pass the chamber by the end of the week. A final version was promised after additional edits.
Why it matters: While that's progress for the president’s most prominent 2021 legislative goal, the House is shaping up as a potential obstacle before money starts flowing to build new roads, bridges and expand broadband access.
- "These deals on infrastructure that have gone out are not just bipartisan, but they are also bicameral, " Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on CNN's "State of the Union."
- "That means House and Senate," she added.
- "I respect that we have to get Sen. Sinema and Manchin's vote on reconciliation," Ocasio-Cortez added. "They should also respect that there's a very tight House margin, and that we have to be able to uphold our end of the bargain as well. And House progressives are also part of that majority."
Her comments highlighted concerns she and her fellow progressives harbor.
- They want to ensure their wishes are fulfilled by a multi-trillion-dollar follow-up reconciliation bill if they're left out of the $1.2-trillion bipartisan bill.
- Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) said last week she won't support a reconciliation bill totaling a reported $3.5 trillion, and another key Democratic moderate in the 50-50 Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), has said he would only support a lower figure.
The timing: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), told "State of the Union" it's her "expectation and hope" the bipartisan bill will pass this week. ...
- She added that she believes there are at least 10