Last night, the Senate decided to end all debates over a massive, $1.2T federal spending package for infrastructure by invoking cloture, which effectively ends all debate. As a result, the Senate vote on the infrastructure bill will occur by Tuesday, if not sooner.
18 Republicans joined with Dems, per @kristin__wilson.
Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, Capito, Susan Collins, Cramer, John Hoeven, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman,Jim Risch, Romney, Thom Tillis, Deb Fischer, John Cornyn, Roger Wicker, Dan Sullivan, Mike Crapo— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 9, 2021
Intriguingly, a vote that has attracted additional attention originates from Senator Roger Wicker, a GOP representative from Mississippi.
I asked Young several times last week about Trump’s opposition to the bill and if it would have any bearing on him. He declined to comment on that. But at the time, he said he was inclined to support bill while indicating he was still reviewing it. https://t.co/g69mIBKo68
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 9, 2021
However, other senators have moved in the opposite direction, including Senator Todd Young, a GOP representative from Indiana. Young had previously voted in favor of invoking cloture; however, he revealed that a recently released analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) illuminated that the massive spending package would likely “add $256 billion to projected deficits over that [2021-2031] period.”
Young, who is up for reelection in the 2022 midterms, did not indicate whether or not Trump’s opposition to the spending package influenced his recent change of mind. However, it can be inferred that Trump’s influence is certainly on the minds of many senators, particularly those who stand to potentially lose their seats in the upcoming midterm elections.
President Donald Trump is out with a new statement warning Republicans that if they vote for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill it will be used against them in the upcoming elections. pic.twitter.com/rR8cgGw6PE
— Haris Alic (@RealHarisAlic) August 8, 2021
Trump has made no secret of his opposition to the massive infrastructure package, and he has also made no secret of his dislike for the ways in which Mitch McConnell, the GOP Senate Minority Leader, has operated in response to the Democrats.
McConnell’s support is considered critical to the bill’s passage, though he has indicated the necessity of allowing various Republican amendments to be considered properly.
In a prior statement, Trump openly called out McConnell for his lack of staunch opposition to the infrastructure package, noting that the “bill is a disgrace,” which is why “if Mitch McConnell [were] smart, which we’ve seen no evidence of, he would use the debt ceiling card to negotiate a good infrastructure package.”
Trump also sagely observed that the spending package could mean massive trouble in 2022 and 2024, especially in terms of receiving his highly sought-after endorsement, as he remains highly influential in the Republican Party.
He noted that the $1.2T federal spending package “will be used against the Republican Party in the upcoming elections in 2022 and 2024,” and it will also be “very hard” to endorse any candidate that is unwise enough “to vote in favor of this deal.”
Moreover, the $1.2T package contains numerous provisions that are not directly related to infrastructure, which makes it an optimal package for leftist liberals.
