| Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) seemed to put a deadline on negotiations over an infrastructure bill on Tuesday, saying repeatedly that Senate Democrats plan to move on an infrastructure bill this summer — whether there's a bipartisan deal or not. "It has always been our plan, regardless of the vehicle, to work on an infrastructure plan in July — and that's our plan: To move forwards in July," Schumer insisted.  Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.) at the Capitol in April. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | That deadline ratchets up the pressure on those in the Senate who are pushing for a bipartisan deal — particularly Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.), who is the biggest roadblock to Democrats using their slim majority to pass a bill without GOP votes. There are currently two small groups of senators working on different plans — one group comprising solely Republicans, and another with senators from both parties. A group of Senate Republicans led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.) plans to send the White House a counteroffer to President Biden's $1.7 trillion proposal on Thursday. Capito and five other Republicans had proposed a $568 billion plan in April that would have authorized spending over a five-year period; an updated version of their proposal would increase spending to about $1 trillion over eight years, according to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). But the White House seemed uninterested in early versions of that proposal, as Democrats criticized it as insufficient, saying much of the spending in the proposals represented federal spending that is already on the books. Republicans quickly accused White House aides of reversing course on changes Biden had previously expressed openness to. A second group of senators, including Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Manchin, is working on a separate proposal. "We're not very far from the Biden proposal on areas where we both think it's appropriate for an infrastructure bill," Romney told The Washington Post on Tuesday. And the fate of the second group's proposal could determine whether Democrats end up agreeing to a compromise bill that gets at least 10 Republicans onboard, or change course and use the budget reconciliation process to pass a bill with only Democrats. That's the procedure Democrats used earlier this year to pass Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. But Manchin has repeatedly said that he won't support another reconciliation bill, and that the Senate should pass bills through regular order — which, because of the 60-vote threshold required to move most legislation forward, has been a serious challenge to Biden's agenda. "I simply do not believe budget reconciliation should replace regular order in the Senate," Manchin wrote in a Washington Post op-ed in April. "Senate Democrats must avoid the temptation to abandon our Republican colleagues on important national issues." That makes Manchin a key player; if his fellow Democrats choose to pursue a reconciliation bill, they'll need Manchin's vote. He seems dug in for now; getting him to change his mind likely involves showing him that every avenue toward negotiating a bipartisan deal has been tried, unsuccessfully. But negotiating too much with Republicans might be unpalatable to Biden, who would need to sign off on any deal. So while the current counteroffers and bipartisan proposals are being crafted by senators, Biden's opinion matters too. And there are some big campaign promises he wants to deliver on with such a bill, including paying for it by rolling back the 2017 tax cuts Democrats say disproportionately benefited corporations and wealthy Americans. Republicans say eliminating those tax cuts is off the table — and it's not a part of the Capito-led plan, nor a part of the Romney-Portman-Manchin plan. The question becomes, how much is Biden willing to negotiate away to make a deal? Romney says his group will eliminate some proposals like federal aid for the elderly and low-income families and funding for electric vehicles that Republicans argue don't fall under the infrastructure umbrella. Instead of raising taxes on wealthy Americans, the group has proposed generating revenue by enforcing current tax laws more or tying the gas tax to inflation. Schumer's deadline is a signal Democrats won't wait forever. And if neither group of senators currently working on a proposal can make Senate Democrats, at least 10 Senate Republicans, and Biden happy, then the prospects for a Democrats-only bill would seem to increase. "We hope to move forward with Republicans," Schumer said Tuesday, when asked broadly about cooperation on issues like infrastructure, a commission to investigate the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and other issues. "But we're not going to let them saying 'no' stand in our way." | 
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