Schumer sets up Wednesday infrastructure showdown
By Jordain Carney - 07/19/21 07:31 PM EDT
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) moved on Monday to tee up a key test vote for a bipartisan infrastructure bill despite warnings from Republicans that they'll block the upper chamber from moving forward.
Schumer's maneuvering sets up the test vote for Wednesday. He'll need 60 votes, including the support of at least 10 Republicans, in order to advance a shell bill, into which senators would swap the text of the bipartisan deal once it is finished.
"That vote on cloture will take place on Wednesday," Schumer said from the Senate floor. "What we're talking about this week is a vote on whether or not to proceed to debate."
The Wednesday vote would be the first step toward taking up and debating the bipartisan infrastructure package. Schumer on Monday night stressed that senators were just agreeing to start debate if they vote "yes" on Wednesday and that it was not a hard deadline for the bipartisan group to wrap up its work.
"It is not a deadline to determine every final detail of the bill," he said, adding that the five core Democratic negotiators — Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), Mark Warner (Va.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) — are on board with his strategy.
"What Chuck's done is no different than what we do on every bill," Tester told reporters on Monday.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/563794-schumer-sets-up-wednesday-infrastructure-showdown
