Sen. Mitch McConnell slams tax hikes in Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure bill, says he is unlikely to support it

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Wednesday took an early swipe at President Joe Biden’s soon-to-be-announced infrastructure overhaul, decrying the “massive” tax increases in the roughly $2 trillion plan and fretting about its impact on the national debt.

McConnell, who has opposed prior administrations’ attempts to pass new infrastructure spending through the Senate, said he was unlikely to support Biden’s ambitious new proposal.

“It’s like a Trojan horse,” McConnell told reporters in Erlanger, Kentucky. “It’s called infrastructure, but inside the Trojan horse it’s going to be more borrowed money, and massive tax increases on all the productive parts of our economy.”

The Republican leader said that if the plan is “going to have massive tax increases and trillions more added to the national debt, it’s not likely” he would support it.

McConnell also said that Biden called him on Tuesday to brief him about the plan. It’s the second time the two men have spoken since Biden’s inauguration, according to NBC News.

Biden on Wednesday afternoon is set to travel to Pittsburgh, known as “the Steel City” for its once-towering status as a leading manufacturing hub, to detail his plan to update U.S. infrastructure and create jobs.

The White House says the legislation is just the first part of a double-barreled, multitrillion-dollar economy recovery plan. The second leg of the plan, which will involve huge investments in U.S. health care and child care, is likely to be revealed later in April.

Biden’s speech is scheduled to start at 4:20 p.m. ET.

The infrastructure plan includes about $2 trillion in spending over eight years, an administration official told reporters. The legislation would raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, which, in concert with other proposed reforms, would fund the new spending in 15 years, the White House said.

Biden’s plan would also raise the global minimum tax rate for multinational corporations to 21% and eliminate a current tax exemption on profits on foreign investments, the administration said.

Those tax proposals would fund a suite of far-reaching infrastructure projects. The Biden plan would invest $620 billion into transportation efforts, including repairing thousands of bridges, expanding public transit, prioritizing electric vehicles and taking steps to account for the effects of climate change.

Billions more would go toward delivering universal broadband access, replacing every lead pipe and service line in the nation and laying thousands of miles of transmission lines.

The plan would also direct $400 billion to care for elderly and disabled Americans, and inject huge sums into upgrading drinking-water infrastructure, homes and schools.

This is developing news. Please check back for updates.