Biden to sign, tout infrastructure bill as Build Back Better Act battle looms

Despite already passing through the House last Friday, President Joe Biden plans to continue lobbying for the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill this week. The President will be in Baltimore to talk about how the bill will impact ports, Biden is also expected to address the supply chain problems we’ve been facing. 

“This will make it easier for companies to get goods to market more quickly and reduce supply chain bottlenecks now and for decades to come,” President Biden said in a statement on the infrastructure bill released Saturday. “This will ease inflationary pressures and lower costs for working families.”

Friday’s vote was 228 to 206 in favor of the infrastructure bill. 13 Republicans voted for the bill, while six Democrats voted against it.

What was missing from Friday was a vote on Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act. However, five moderates agreed to back the bill if the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office’s estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers the White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. The agreement included a planned vote for next week when Congress returns to session.

The agreement on the Biden Build Back Better Act did not prevent some more progressive Democrats from voting against the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The six who voted against were progressives who did not want to support the infrastructure bill until there was a promise from the Senate that the Build Back Better Act would also pass.

“A vote in favor of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act alone would have jeopardized our leverage to improve the livelihood of our health care workers, our children, our caregivers, our seniors, and the future of our environment,” Rep. Cori Bush said in a statement. “That’s why I joined several of my close colleagues in standing firm behind our promise to our districts and the American people that we will not leave our communities behind.”

Despite taking a victory lap regarding the infrastructure bill Saturday, Biden has still yet to sign it. He said he was going to wait until Congress returned to Washington.

“Vice President Harris and I look forward to having a formal signing ceremony for this bipartisan infrastructure soon,” Biden said Saturday. “I want people who worked so hard to get this done — Democrats and Republicans — to be here when we sign it.”