Airport Alert: Senate Infrastructure Bill Clears Important Hurdle on the Path Towards Final Passage
August 7, 2021
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIB) is swiftly approaching the finish line, clearing yet another, key procedural hurdle with today's successful cloture vote on the substitute amendment containing the framework agreed upon between the White House and a bipartisan group of senators.
From the start, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has kept the Senate on an unrelenting pace to finish the BIB as quickly as possible, which will allow for the Senate to immediately proceed to the larger, $3.5 trillion budget resolution thereafter. However, to appease Senate Republicans, of which he needs at least ten to overcome a filibuster, he has allowed for a robust amendment process. In total, over 400 amendments have been offered with 22 receiving a vote. So far, though, only uncontroversial amendments that do not significantly alter the carefully negotiated framework have passed.
While Leader Schumer had hoped to fast track the BIB towards final passage late Thursday, his attempts were ultimately blocked due to trepidation from deficit hawks concerned by the bill's costs. The bipartisan group of senators who negotiated the BIB with the White House have insistently claimed that the bill's $550 billion in new spending was completely paid for; however, on Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its long, anticipated "score," which assessed that just a little more than half of the new spending — $294 billion — would be offset by pay-fors.
Nevertheless, today's vote shows that despite the CBO score, there remains enough Republican support to steer the BIB towards final passage. In the meantime, barring unanimous consent from all 100 senators to speed up the legislative process, the Senate now has 30 hours of post-cloture debate time before it can ultimately vote on passage of the substitute amendment and move towards a final vote on the entire BIB. During this time, the Senate will continue to work through the amendment process, with the possibility of passing a large package of amendments before it's all said and done.
AAAE will continue to monitor the Senate's consideration of the BIB and will be sure to keep you apprised of any important developments as things progress.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIB) is swiftly approaching the finish line, clearing yet another, key procedural hurdle with today's successful cloture vote on the substitute amendment containing the framework agreed upon between the White House and a bipartisan group of senators.
From the start, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has kept the Senate on an unrelenting pace to finish the BIB as quickly as possible, which will allow for the Senate to immediately proceed to the larger, $3.5 trillion budget resolution thereafter. However, to appease Senate Republicans, of which he needs at least ten to overcome a filibuster, he has allowed for a robust amendment process. In total, over 400 amendments have been offered with 22 receiving a vote. So far, though, only uncontroversial amendments that do not significantly alter the carefully negotiated framework have passed.
While Leader Schumer had hoped to fast track the BIB towards final passage late Thursday, his attempts were ultimately blocked due to trepidation from deficit hawks concerned by the bill's costs. The bipartisan group of senators who negotiated the BIB with the White House have insistently claimed that the bill's $550 billion in new spending was completely paid for; however, on Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its long, anticipated "score," which assessed that just a little more than half of the new spending — $294 billion — would be offset by pay-fors.
Nevertheless, today's vote shows that despite the CBO score, there remains enough Republican support to steer the BIB towards final passage. In the meantime, barring unanimous consent from all 100 senators to speed up the legislative process, the Senate now has 30 hours of post-cloture debate time before it can ultimately vote on passage of the substitute amendment and move towards a final vote on the entire BIB. During this time, the Senate will continue to work through the amendment process, with the possibility of passing a large package of amendments before it's all said and done.
AAAE will continue to monitor the Senate's consideration of the BIB and will be sure to keep you apprised of any important developments as things progress.
