Biden, bipartisan group of senators agree to $1 trillion infrastructure plan

After months of negotiations, US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he and a bipartisan group of senators had agreed on a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure deal.

"We have a deal," Biden said, standing with the 10 senators in the West Wing driveway after their 30-minute Oval Office meeting. "They've given me their word," he said of the group of five Republicans and five Democrats. "Where I come from, that's good enough for me.

"We've all agreed that none of us got all that we wanted. I clearly didn't get all I wanted. They gave more than I think maybe they were inclined to give in the first place," Biden said.

The potential agreement's framework includes $579 billion in new spending for a total of $973 billion over five years and just over $1.2 trillion over eight years.

The bipartisan group hasn't released details of the agreement, but it is understood to include $312 billion for transportation programs, including roads, bridges, airports and electric vehicles infrastructure. The remaining $266 billion would go to areas such as water infrastructure, broadband, environmental remediation and power infrastructure.

"We've agreed on the price tag, the scope and how to pay for it," said Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine on Thursday. "It was not easy to get agreement on all three, but it was essential."

The proposed financial sources for new investments include reducing the tax gap, redirected, unused unemployment insurance relief funds, and repurposed unused funds from COVID-19 relief legislation. It also includes allowing states to sell or purchase unused toll credits for infrastructure, extend expiring customs user fees and 5G spectrum auction proceeds.

If enacted, the agreement would mark the first major bipartisan legislative accomplishment for Biden.

"This reminds me of the days we used to get an awful lot done in the United States Congress, we actually worked with one another," Biden said, putting his hand on the shoulder of Ohio Senator Rob Portman, the lead Republican negotiator. "Bipartisan deal means compromise," he added.

The potential agreement has won the endorsement of 21 senators in both parties, but it must get through a closely divided Congress. Portman said that he discussed the agreement with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday morning, and McConnell told him he was open minded about the agreement's framework.

The meeting on Thursday with Biden came after the group of senators reached a tentative agreement with White House aides Wednesday evening after two days of meetings on Capitol Hill.

The agreement would cover only a fraction of what Biden originally called for in his $4 trillion proposal to invest in "hard" infrastructure of roads and bridges, alongside "human" infrastructure, such as childcare and eldercare programs.

Biden acknowledged that Republicans weren't going to back the "human'' infrastructure he has called for, suggesting that he hopes to push that separately through reconciliation. That process would require the backing of all 48 Democrats and two independents who caucus with them in the evenly divided chamber.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Thursday morning that the House won't take up the bipartisan agreement until the Senate passes through reconciliation the more progressive bill that is likely to address issues such as immigration, climate and healthcare.

"There ain't going to be an infrastructure bill unless we have the reconciliation bill passed by the United States Senate,'' Pelosi said.