President Biden canceled a trip to Chicago today in an effort to urge House Democrats to pass the infrastructure bill. The vote is set for tomorrow, but its future remains in jeopardy, because of objections from both parties.
The House Speaker opted to separate infrastructure from the larger spending package.
That reversal in strategy comes after months of saying that the bills would be tied together and it is creating a “perfect legislative storm” in Washington this week.
The American Farm Bureau says that while it supports infrastructure, it does not support the $3.5 trillion dollars social spending agenda. Zippy Duvall says that the bureau is also against the “got it alone” tactic, even though there are billions of dollars for broadband and other ag-related efforts in the larger spending package.
“You’re talking somewhere between $66 billion to $90 billion, but we’re looking at a $3.5 trillion dollar bill and $2 trillion worth of tax increases,” Duvall explains.
Complicating the matter is the looming government shutdown on Friday. The stop-gap measure Republicans will not support suspends the nation’s borrowing limit. IT has $10 billion dollars in ag disaster aid attached to it.
Duvall says that shutdowns frustrate everyone, but he hopes the two sides will find a way around it.
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