Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-WV) attends a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the energy department’s budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 15, 2021.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said a draft of the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal should be finished on Sunday.
“I think you’ll see text today,” the West Virginia senator said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “By this evening hopefully we can start the process, hopefully start our amendment process by tomorrow. We should finish up by Thursday.”
The Senate convened on Saturday to finish a draft of the legislative text of a robust infrastructure package. The bill is expected to allocate about $110 billion for roads and bridges, $39 billion for public transit, $66 billion for rail and $11 billion towards road safety. There’s also roughly $55 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure and billions for airports, ports, broadband internet and electric vehicle charging stations.
“When you talk about roads and bridges and rails and trains and everything that goes with it, internet services, it’s something that every state, every area of every state needs,” said Manchin. “A pothole doesn’t have a Republican’s or Democrat’s name on it. It will bust your tire and tear up your car. We need to fix things.”
Manchin, who thinks the bill will be passed, added that when you see Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell both voting for the same thing “it’s unbelievable.”
Earlier, Sen. Susan Collins, R.-Me., said on the same program that she thinks there will be more than 10 Republican senators who will support the bill.
“My hope is that we’ll finish the bill by the end of the week,” Collins said.
Democrats aim to pass the bill along with a second, separate $3.5 trillion package that would include a bevy of other party priorities. The proposal could address child care, paid leave, tax credits for households and climate policy.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she is not going to hold a vote on the bill, assuming it passes the Senate, until the much-larger $3.5 trillion reconciliation budget passes.
However, Manchin said he believes each bill should be passed on its own merit.
