U.S. Republicans unveil $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer

U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a new infrastructure offer on Thursday that would spend $928 billion over eight years to revitalize America's roads, bridges and broadband systems, still well below President Joe Biden's last proposal.

The plan, from a group of six Republicans led by Senator Shelley Moore Capito, represents their counter-offer to a week-old $1.7 trillion White House proposal that slashed more than $500 billion from Biden's original $2.25 trillion plan in a bid to reach a bipartisan agreement.

"Senate Republicans continue to negotiate in good faith," Capito told a news conference. "There is a real hunger for bipartisanship in the United States Senate."

The Republican proposal includes $506 billion for roads, bridges and major projects, with another $98 billion allocated to public transit. Just $257 billion of the funds represented an increase over existing spending plans.

Republicans proposed paying for the plan with funds previously authorized for COVID-19 relief.

The White House did not immediately respond to the proposal, but at a news conference on Wednesday, an official had rejected the idea of repurposing already-authorized COVID-19 funding for infrastructure.

"We should also be clear that there are simply not hundreds of billions of dollars in COVID-relief funds available to repurpose," said Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Biden has imposed an unofficial end-of-May deadline on the negotiations, and some Senate Democrats have been pushing to go it alone if Republicans do not reach an agreement soon.