Water Resources Bill To Be Pushed Forward By Schumer
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has announced his intent to push forward on a water resources bill next week.
This comes just weeks after President Biden announced his ambitious American Jobs Plan, which addresses the nation’s jobs and infrastructure problem. Since its unveiling, both Republicans and a few Democrats in Congress have expressed concern with the terms of the plan.
While the American Jobs Plan is still in discussion, Senator Schumer considers this water resources bill a component of the plan. The measure recently received unanimous bipartisan support from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
According to an article by Reuters, this move could signal that “Biden and his Democratic allies, who narrowly control the House of Representatives and the Senate, could begin to move forward on his infrastructure package with measure that are most likely to win support from Republicans who otherwise oppose Biden’s sweeping package.”
Bipartisanship has been a contentious issue with the Biden-Harris administration, as his last major legislative push, the American Rescue Plan, failed to garner Republican support within Congress due to its terms and figures.
Now, the American Jobs Plan is getting a similar pushback. Republicans are arguing that President Biden’s plan is overreaching the scope of traditional infrastructure, as Biden seeks to redefine infrastructure to include aspects like climate change and social programs.
In addition, Republicans are adamantly opposed to increasing tax rates for U.S. corporations, with Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggesting users fund the measures instead.
However, the Biden-Harris administration is still working towards bipartisanship.
According to that same article by Reuters, “Biden has begun to host bipartisan groups of lawmakers at the White House to discuss infrastructure in an effort to win Republican support.”
However, Democrats have already expressed that if Republican pushback does not quell and intensifies, the party will seek to use the legislative process called reconciliation to move forward on the bill.
