Senate Republicans make new infrastructure offer as House Democrats urge Biden to dig in

In an attempt to salvage stalled negotiations, Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a revised counteroffer for infrastructure spending, outlining roughly $928 billion in a package that’s still far short of what the White House has proposed.

Only about a quarter of the total price tag appears to represent new spending above baseline levels under the “roadmap” put forward by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and her GOP counterparts. But lawmakers still stressed that their retooled approach “delivers on much” of what Biden had recommended in earlier talks between the two sides.

“Senate Republicans continue to negotiate in good faith,” Capito said at a press conference unveiling the blueprint.

The Republican plan proposes more than $500 billion for roads, $98 billion for public transit, $46 billion for passenger rail and more than $70 billion for water infrastructure. Republicans recommended additional spending for ports, waterways, airports and broadband connectivity, maintaining their belief that any package should hew to what they describe as traditional infrastructure.

But the plan does not close the other gaps that exist with the White House, where Biden recommended more than $2 trillion in new spending on a wide range of areas, including elder care, parents and families. GOP Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.) on Thursday described the scope of the White House proposal as “socialism camouflaged as infrastructure.”

Nor does it address the thornier disputes between the two sides over Biden’s plan to finance it through tax increases on corporations, which the GOP vehemently opposes. Instead, Republicans maintained their preference to pay for infrastructure using unused stimulus funds.