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Senators say bipartisan agreement reached with White House on infrastructure proposal

U.S Capitol CNN 061419
Posted at 6:25 PM, Jun 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-23 21:36:03-04

WASHINGTON - There are reports Wednesday night that there is an agreement between the White House and 10 senators on an infrastructure deal.

Senators told CNNthey have "a framework" and are planning to meet with President Joe Biden on Thursday to discuss it.

The bill is reportedly fully paid for and offsets any new spending it proposes.

"White House senior staff had two productive meetings today with the bipartisan group of Senators who have been negotiating about infrastructure," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Wednesday night. "The group made progress towards an outline of a potential agreement."

Sen. Joe Manchin confirmed to reporters the agreed-upon framework is about the same size as the $1.2 trillion package that was being discussed with the White House earlier this year.

After weeks of negotiations between different groups of Senators, Democratic leaders had been considering using a process to pass infrastructure funding without Republican support.

Key to the discussions has been how to pay for the potentially massive spending bill. Republicans have been hesitant to approve new spending and have suggested moving money from other projects. The White House has said they will not sign off on any new taxes or fees that would impact people making less than $400,000 a year.

Sen. Manchin told USA Todaythe framework created Wednesday night includes more than $500 billion in new money; about half of what Biden had initially asked for in his American Jobs Plan, but far more than Republican senators had initially offered.