Pelosi casts doubts on new Senate infrastructure plan

WASHINGTON - U.S. Democrats will not back down on President Joe Biden's sweeping infrastructure goals, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday, signaling turbulence ahead for a scaled-back bipartisan proposal unveiled in the Senate.

Biden has set his sights on a sweeping infrastructure bill that would both revamp the nation's roads and bridges as well as boost spending on services including healthcare and education -- though Republicans reject the idea that those latter priorities even qualify for the label "infrastructure." A bipartisan group of ten Senate moderates on Thursday reached a deal https://www.reuters.com/world/us/senate-republican-leader-mcconnell-new-infrastructure-plan-collins-2021-06-10 for an infrastructure plan that a source familiar said would cost $974 billion over five years and includes $579 billion in new spending. That was well below Biden's current $1.7 trillion proposal, and it was unclear if it would gather enough support to pass the 50-50 Senate.