White House 'eager' for GOP counteroffer on infrastructure

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that President Joe Biden is awaiting an infrastructure counteroffer from Senate Republicans after a core group of GOP negotiators rejected his latest $1.7 trillion proposal, leaving the fragile talks on a compromise at a standstill before a Memorial Day deadline.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the president is “eager to engage" and would welcome more talks with the senators. But she said the Republicans have “a ways more to go” to find common ground. Biden dropped $500 billion from his initial $2.3 trillion offer, and Psaki said the Republicans raised their $568 billion offer by about $50 billion. Republicans have rejected Biden's plan to pay for the road and broadband spending with a corporate tax increase.

“The ball is in the Republicans' court,” Psaki said at the White House briefing.

On Monday, the president will be hosting Alaska’s Republican congressional delegation to the White House for a bill signing ceremony on an unrelated cruise ship tourism measure. That's meant as a signal of potential areas of bipartisanship. The invited lawmakers could be key players in any infrastructure deal.

With a deadline a week away, the White House and Senate Republicans remain far apart after nearly two weeks of closed-door talks between Biden's team and senators. The lack of progress on Biden's effort to strike a bipartisan agreement has Democrats considering whether they should leave Republicans behind and try to pass his top priority on their own.

Psaki insisted no decisions had been made and expected more talks this week. Asked if Biden might move ahead with his infrastructure plans without Republican support, she said, “We're not quite there yet.”

Democrats hold only slim majorities in the House and Senate, and the...