Agreement in the US Senate: A groundbreaking infrastructure package

The US Senate has managed to pass a very large infrastructure package with the votes of all Democrats and many Republicans. The joy should only last a short time. The next elections are not far.

The American infrastructure is in bad shape. Bridges and roads are falling into disrepair, the water supply is obsolete, and the electricity supply is fragile. And fast internet is a dream for many. The US Senate decided yesterday to remedy these shortcomings with over one trillion dollars (over 850 billion euros).

The package will help a historic upswing, a long-term boom, said President Biden, who – according to journalists – seemed to be floating with enthusiasm. Biden also promised millions of new, well-paying jobs, and that no middle-class American would have to pay more taxes for them. Instead, more than half of the package is to be financed with fresh money, so the US debt will continue to increase.

Group of 10 senators came together

With the infrastructure package, Biden wanted to prove to the Americans that a functioning government actually benefits them. And that even in times of political division it is possible to come together and do great and important things together for the benefit of the American people.

It was a long way until then, and it is far from clear whether it can be walked more than once. In the end, after months of controversy, it was a group of ten senators from both parties who negotiated the details, with the support of Biden’s team. Rob Portman, one of the Republicans involved in the success, said that each side made concessions in order to find common ground.

Long wish list in the House of Representatives

19 of the 50 Republican Senators voted yesterday. But it may be a long time before the Americans can drive over the first new bridges. The law now has to go to the House of Representatives, where many MPs will register new requests. And many Democrats want their approval conditional on another, even larger, $ 3.5 trillion package being passed. It should be about the social infrastructure, climate protection, childcare and care for the elderly – a heartfelt wish of left-wing democrats like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

They feel that now is the time to put their content into practice. What is clear is that the Republicans will not go along with this: too much new debt, far too much welfare state. It was “an extensive $ 3.5 trillion socialist shopping list,” said Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader.

Biden in a bind

A tricky situation for Joe Biden, who started as a reconciler. If he could at least succeed in this one infrastructure package, he could present it to Republican voters as evidence: You see, I have an eye on all Americans. On the other hand, he knows that he will never get the support of the Republicans for his ambitious socio-political agenda.

Developing the welfare state, strengthening minorities, promoting unions, protecting the right to vote and promoting climate protection – that is what Republicans call “socialism”, especially those who believe that Trump actually won the election.

Significant months for Biden’s presidency

In addition, Biden is running out of time. There are mid-term elections next fall, and so far almost every newly elected president has had to give up. So Joe Biden could lose a majority in both houses, and the Democrats have yet to come up with an answer on how to prevent that.

Strengthen the left profile, as Bernie Sanders demands, or seek the center, as conservative Democrats like Joe Manchin do? In an election in Cleveland, a representative of the moderate camp beat a progressive heroine, but that doesn’t mean anything. Either way, the president has to catch them all. The majorities in both houses are so tight that he cannot afford dissenting votes. What he can’t do in the next few months, he may never be able to do it again.