On The Money: Biden announces bipartisan deal on infrastructure, but Democratic leaders hold out for more

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THE BIG DEAL—Biden announces bipartisan deal on infrastructure: President BidenJoe Biden Pence said he’s ‘proud’ Congress certified Biden’s win on Jan. 6 Americans put the most trust in their doctor for COVID-19 information: poll US to give Afghanistan 3M doses of J&J vaccine MORE on Thursday announced he’d reached an infrastructure deal with a group of Republican and Democratic senators, saying both sides gave up some things they wanted to get a rare accord in a bitterly divided Washington, D.C.

Biden acknowledged the deal would not include proposals he’s made for spending to help American families, but firmly endorsed the deal on infrastructure in unusual remarks just outside the White House with the bipartisan group of senators looking on.

“We have a deal,” Biden told reporters.

The deal: The framework includes $579 billion in new spending for a total of $973 billion over five years and just over $1.2 trillion over eight years.

It allocates $312 billion for transportation programs, including roads, bridges, airports and electric vehicles infrastructure.
The remaining $266 billion would go to water infrastructure, broadband, environmental remediation, power infrastructure and other areas.
The proposed financial sources for new investments include reducing the tax gap, redirecting unused unemployment insurance relief funds and repurposing unused funds from COVID-19 relief legislation.
It also includes sources like allowing states to sell or purchase unused toll credits for infrastructure, extending expiring customs user fees and 5G spectrum auction proceeds.

The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant and Alex Gangitano have all the details here.

How it came together: The agreement was reached after weeks of negotiations, and with progressive Democrats repeatedly calling on the White House to back away from the talks, which some liberals fear could prevent a much larger package from moving forward.

How it could fall apart: Biden, reflecting the desires of many liberal Democrats, said he wouldn’t sign the bipartisan bill without also having a much bigger bill passed by Democrats through budget reconciliation on his desk.

“If only one comes to me, this is the only one that comes to me, I’m not signing it. It’s in tandem,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiEquilibrium/Sustainability — Presented by NextEra Energy — Set millions of tires on fire, pay less than ,000 On The Money: Biden announces bipartisan deal on infrastructure, but Democratic leaders hold out for more Democrats seek to calm nervous left MORE (D-Calif.) also said Thursday that the House would not vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill until the Senate passes a larger set of Democratic priorities through budget reconciliation.

That didn’t sit well with Republicans, who immediately accused Biden of pulling a bait-and-switch.

“Less than two hours after publicly commending our colleagues and actually endorsing the bipartisan agreement, the president took the extraordinary step of threatening to veto it. It was a tale of two press conferences,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellRevs. Jesse Jackson, William Barber arrested in protest urging Manchin to nix filibuster On The Money: Biden announces bipartisan deal on infrastructure, but Democratic leaders hold out for more McConnell slams Biden for already ‘caving’ to left on infrastructure deal MORE (R-Ky.) in remarks on the Senate floor.

Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamOn The Money: Biden announces bipartisan deal on infrastructure, but Democratic leaders hold out for more Trump’s biggest political obstacle is Trump The Hill’s Equilibrium — Presented by NextEra Energy — Tasmanian devil wipes out penguin population MORE (R-S.C.), a one-time friend of Biden, went even further and called the president’s warning “the ultimate dealbreaker.”

“I don’t mind working with the other side for the common good, but I’m not going to be extorted by liberal Democrats or anyone else,” Graham tweeted. “So much for President Biden as the moderate deal-maker!”

Read more on the bipartisan infrastructure deal:

Democratic leaders are trying to assure nervous progressives that their priorities for climate change, paid family leave and other “human infrastructure” can still be delivered even with President Biden embracing a much more narrowly focused Senate infrastructure deal.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezOn The Money: Biden announces bipartisan deal on infrastructure, but Democratic leaders hold out for more Democrats seek to calm nervous left McConnell slams Biden for already ‘caving’ to left on infrastructure deal MORE (D-N.Y.) criticized the bipartisan infrastructure proposal shortly after President Biden confirmed the deal Thursday, condemning the lack of diversity among the Senate negotiators.
Senate progressives are signaling they aren’t ready to bless a bipartisan infrastructure deal unless they can secure firm commitments on a separate Democratic-only bill.
Business groups applauded the bipartisan infrastructure deal announced by President Biden on Thursday and urged Congress to swiftly pass the proposal.
The bipartisan infrastructure deal the White House signed off on Thursday includes investments in key climate provisions President Biden has pushed for, but at lower levels.

LEADING THE DAY

CDC extends eviction moratorium through July: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday announced a one-month extension to the nationwide pause on evictions put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The eviction moratorium, which was set to expire this month, will now last through July under the new order, which is expected to be the final extension, the CDC said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a historic threat to the nation’s public health,” the CDC said in a statement. “Keeping people in their homes and out of crowded or congregate settings — like homeless shelters — by preventing evictions is a key step in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.”

The extended protections come as landlords and property owners have sought to evict tens of thousands of cash-strapped renters from their homes and as federal rental aid continues to make its way to needy tenants.
Some state governments, which bear responsibility for distributing more than $45 billion in federally funded rental assistance, have been slow to make disbursements.

The Hill’s John Kruzel has more here.

Yellen to travel to Italy next month to further efforts on global minimum tax: Treasury Secretary Janet YellenJanet Louise YellenOn The Money: Biden announces bipartisan deal on infrastructure, but Democratic leaders hold out for more Yellen to travel to Italy next month to further efforts on global minimum tax The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Senators, White House to meet on potential infrastructure deal MORE is set to travel next month to the meeting of the Group of 20 (G-20) finance ministers in Venice, Italy, where she is hoping to get an agreement on a global minimum tax.

The Treasury Department announced Thursday that Yellen will attend the G-20 finance ministers’ meeting from July 9 to 10.

A top priority for Yellen is an agreement with other countries on a global minimum tax of at least 15 percent.
Yellen has said that such an agreement would end a “race to the bottom” on corporate taxation and would help to address concerns that American businesses would become less competitive if the U.S. raises its corporate tax rate, as President Biden has proposed.
Separately, the Group of Seven leading industrial nations announced support for a global minimum tax of at least 15 percent earlier this month.

The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda brings us up to speed here.

GOOD TO KNOW

The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that all of the 23 major banks subject to Dodd-Frank stress tests this year proved they could withstand another severe downturn.
The House on Thursday passed a bill to repeal a rule meant to clarify who bears responsibility for loans issued through arrangements between banks and non-bank lenders.
The number of new applications for jobless aid dropped slightly last week to 411,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
President Biden on Wednesday night designated Sandra Thompson as the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) after ousting the agency’s previous chief earlier in the day.

ODDS AND ENDS

California Democrats are clashing with members of their party over a package of antitrust bills targeting the top tech companies in the country.
Op-Ed: “How policymakers can stave off another crisis for small businesses”

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