Prospects for a bipartisan deal on the biggest infrastructure package in decades improved on Wednesday as 21 senators, including 11 Republicans, signed onto a bipartisan framework for a $579 billion package.
Such legislation would still need support from nearly all 50 Democrats in the chamber unless more Republicans sign on, and it includes a funding mechanism -- indexing the national gasoline tax to inflation -- that the White House has opposed.
There are a “lot of preconditions” from Republicans and Democrats both, so getting an overall deal “will be a challenge,” Democratic Senator