Status: 08/10/2021 7:24 p.m.
The US Democrats promise “A lot of good for America” - the Senate has approved the first part of President Biden’s billion dollar infrastructure program. It could take a while before it clears the last hurdle.
The US Senate has voted for President Joe Biden’s billion dollar infrastructure package with votes from both parties. The plan for the most extensive nationwide repair of roads, bridges and airports in decades took an important hurdle. However, the Democratic President of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has said that her chamber will only deal with the bill after the Senate has also passed a second package worth $ 3.5 trillion. This is, however, controversial among the Republicans. This could mean months before the Biden law is available for signature.
The modernization of the infrastructure is one of the central projects of Biden. The Senate, in which the Democrats only have a majority with the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, demonstrated its ability to act with 69 votes to 30. “There have been detours and everything else, but this will do a lot of good for America,” said Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer.
Most of the money is reallocated
The law now passed by the Senate provides for new government spending of around 550 billion dollars for traffic routes, the Internet and projects to deal with the climate crisis. The package comprises a total of 1.2 trillion dollars – for comparison: this roughly corresponds to the gross domestic product of Spain last year.
A large part of the money is reallocated from other budget items. Negotiations on the package have already been going on for months. Should the law actually pass both chambers, it would be a great victory for the democratic president.
Sharp criticism from Trump
Biden’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump called the bill “a shame”. He would find it difficult “to support those who are foolish enough to vote for this agreement,” he said.
His position could pose a difficult trade-off for Republicans, who want to run again in the November 2022 congressional elections. Trump is still very popular with supporters of the Republicans – but at the same time, according to the polls, the spending envisaged in the bill is extremely popular with the electorate.