GOP senators ready $1T infrastructure counteroffer to Biden

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure counteroffer to present to the White House by Thursday, reviving negotiations over President Joe Biden’s sweeping investment plan ahead of a Memorial Day deadline for progress toward a bipartisan deal.

Republicans sounded upbeat Tuesday after both sides had panned the latest offers.

Biden had dropped his $2.3 trillion opening bid to $1.7 trillion. Republicans had nudged their initial $568 billion offer up by about $50 billion. The Republicans said their new $1 trillion offer, spread over eight years, would be aligned with what they discussed with Biden in their first Oval Office meeting almost two weeks ago.

At the White House, press secretary Jen Psaki struck a similar note of optimism: "We expect this week to be a week of progress.”

The sweeping infrastructure investment, in particular, faces a crucial moment: The White House is assessing whether the president can strike a bipartisan deal with Republicans on his American Jobs Plan, a top domestic priority, or try to go it alone with Democrats if no progress is made over the next week. Biden's allies in the House and Senate are preparing for all scenarios.

A core group of Republican negotiators led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., emerged from an early Tuesday huddle to announce its coming new proposal.

“We are anxious to have a bipartisan agreement,” Capito told reporters on Capitol Hill.

A GOP aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks said the price tag would be $1 trillion over eight years, paid for by tapping funds that have been allocated as part of COVID-19 relief but not yet spent. The aide said about $700 billion remains in unspent virus aid.

Capito said the group agreed that what they heard from...