In a recently published article in Bloomberg, the office of Republican Sen. Moore Capito said, "Senator Capito is encouraged that negotiations have continued. She will be briefing the other members of her negotiating team and reconnecting with the President on Friday."
This was released after President Biden and Senator Capito met to strike a deal over the infrastructure bill that has long been touted by Biden.
According to a report published in The Wall Street Journal, their talks lasted for more than an hour. The White House described it as a frank and constructive conversation. However, Biden and Moore were not able to strike a deal or reach a bipartisan compromise. The talk is scheduled to resume this Friday.
Moore will relay to the Republican lawmakers what they have discussed and will plan what they will do during their next meeting.
U.S. President Joe Biden (R) speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris (L) listens during an event in the South Court Auditorium of the White House.
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The New Counter Offer of the Republicans
Republican lawmakers have long been opposing Biden's proposed Infrastructure Bill. Two of the reasons given are that the amount attached to it is too large, and that it covers items not listed in the traditional Infrastructure Bill.
Last Thursday, Capito released a fresh GOP counteroffer to Biden. On the surface, it totals $928 billion in investment over eight years. However, just $257 billion of it was additional net expenditure beyond routinely projected maintenance expenditures that Congress was already expecting to approve.
Biden made the offer after lowering his original demand of a $2.3 trillion bill to $1.7 trillion, according to a published report in The New York Times.
However, Republicans have sought to confine the bill to physical projects such as roads, transportation, water systems, and Internet, while Democrats have sought to broaden the definition of "infrastructure." The White House wants to add "care" infrastructure, such as hospital and elder care investment.
Democratic Lawmakers Pushed Biden To Strike a Deal With the Republicans
The discussion took place as liberal Democrats urged Biden to abandon his efforts to reach an agreement with the GOP and pursue his agenda with legislation that can pass the Senate with just Democratic votes via the budget reconciliation procedure.
However, given the Senate's 50-50 party split, it is unclear if Biden has the votes to do so. A tiny group of Democratic moderates is pressing President to continue negotiating and hit the deadline for the bill.
On the other hand, The GOP has also said unequivocally that it would not support increasing taxes by overturning former President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts for the affluent and companies, as recommended by Biden.
Instead, the GOP has favored utilizing unspent coronavirus rescue monies to pay for new infrastructure, including child tax credits and state and local assistance, and has signaled openness to taxes on electric cars or public-private partnerships.
President Biden has supported raising the corporate taxes to 28 percent, which will become the main source of funds for the Infrastructure Bill.
Related Article: Much Reduced Biden Infrastructure Bill Meets Rejection as Democrats and Republicans Continue To Disagree
