Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is urging a procedural vote on Wednesday for an infrastructure bill — though the bill itself has yet to be drafted — which Republicans will likely block.
The infrastructure framework, totaling to around $1.2 trillion, has become a partisan issue now that Schumer has ignored Republicans’ requests to hold off until they are able to look at the text of the bill.
“There’s absolutely no reason why he asked to have the vote tomorrow, and it does not advance the ball,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a co-author of the package, told the Washington Examiner. “It does not achieve any goal except to alienate people.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R- Ky.) said they would not move forward until they know “what is in the bill.”
Amid the clear political divide, Schumer is still convinced his move is bipartisan.
“The plan I have is very fair to the bipartisan process,” he said. “We almost never wait for a complex bill like this for a full bill to be on the floor in order for it to be debated.”
Despite Schumer vying for the 60 votes required to begin debate on the framework, Republicans are poised to stonewall.
Even Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) — considered a moderate Republican — called the Wednesday vote “premature.”
“Wednesday is premature,” said Romney, “but I think Monday would be sufficient time for us to get all the remaining issues solved and socialize the legislation with that with our colleagues so they know how they want to vote. And that’s unanimous among Republicans.”