United States of America eSeries: Biden moves closer to victory on infrastructure

Biden moves closer to victory on infrastructure

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Monday 08.09.21

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by Paul LeBlanc and Zachary B. Wolf

: Welcome (back) to infrastructure week

It's a very big week for President Joe Biden's very big agenda.

After months of plodding negotiations, the President's enormous infrastructure pitch has wind in its sails, with each prong of the plan emerging from the fog of debate on a clear(er) path toward enactment.

First, the massive $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package is poised for a final vote in the Senate this week after clearing the last procedural hurdle over the weekend.

A final vote is now expected Tuesday. Exact timing for when the vote will take place is not yet clear, but senators are confident the bill will pass.

The massive bipartisan infrastructure package, called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is the culmination of drawn-out and painstaking negotiations between a bipartisan group of senators and the Biden administration and will allow both parties to claim a win after extensive work across the aisle.

It features a $550 billion in new federal spending over five years. The measure invests $110 billion in funding toward roads, bridges and major projects, $66 billion in passenger and freight rail, $65 billion to rebuild the electric grid, $65 billion to expand broadband Internet access, and $39 billion to modernize and expand transit systems.

Among many other priorities, the bill also includes $55 billion for water infrastructure, $15 billion of which will be directed toward replacing lead pipes.

Second, after the bipartisan bill has passed, the Senate will quickly shift its attention to the budget resolution, which envisions a massive broadening of the nation's social safety net.

Senate Democrats released their budget resolution earlier Monday, which does not include an increase to the debt limit.

The budget resolution has a price tag of $3.5 trillion, and includes a series of tax increases and other offsets to help finance the sweeping plan, though the majority of the legislation implementing the plan needs to be written as a dozen committees have instructions to start drafting legislation.

Passing the budget resolution is just the first step, then it becomes the job of the committees to write the reconciliation bill. Unlike the bipartisan package, the budget resolution would go through reconciliation, which under Senate rules means it can be passed with 50 Democratic votes alone.

The budget resolution provides the target date of September 15 for committees to submit their reconciliation legislation. "We will work towards this goal and meet, as a caucus, during the week of the 15th to review the bill," Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a Dear Colleague letter Monday morning.

: What else?

Top Cuomo aide resigns. Melissa DeRosa appeared throughout New York State Attorney General Letitia James' report which concluded that the governor sexually harassed 11 women.

UN climate report brings fresh concern. Lawmakers and top climate officials in Biden's administration sounded the alarm on Monday in response to a new report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, urging nations to swiftly limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The vaccines are working *very* well. More than 99.99% of people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death, according to a CNN analysis of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pentagon to mandate vaccination. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is moving to have all active duty members of the US military vaccinated against Covid-19, he said in a memo released Monday.

Eviction moratorium 'gamesmanship.' A federal judge suggested Monday that "gamesmanship" was at play with the eviction moratorium the Biden administration rolled out last week, but also expressed skepticism about the legal arguments being put forward by landlords who are seeking to block the moratorium.

: 📺🔌: 'Being AOC'

When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was barricaded inside her office during the Capitol insurrection on January 6, she not only feared that mob would kill her, but that she would be raped if the rioters found her.

"I didn't think that I was just going to be killed," Ocasio-Cortez told CNN's Dana Bash in "Being...AOC," the first episode of the new CNN series "Being..." that airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

"I thought other things were going to happen to me as well."

💻📱"Being…AOC" will also stream live for subscribers via CNNgo and on the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android. The episode will be available on demand beginning August 10 via cable/satellite systems, CNNgo platforms, and CNN mobile apps. 💻📱

: What are we doing here?

We're trying to connect the dots at a time of political, cultural and economic upheaval.