17 Republicans and Every Democrat Votes to Advance Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

By Daniel Villarreal On 7/28/21 at 7:34 PM EDT

A total of 17 Republicans and all 50 members of the congressional Democratic caucus has voted to advance the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was one of the 17 Republican votes for the bill to proceed. The vote could help start debate on the bill and possibly bring it to a vote on the Senate floor in the coming days.

The bipartisan bill will reportedly allocate $110 billion for roads, $73 billion for power grids, $66 billion for railways, $65 billion to expanded broadband access, $55 billion for clean drinking water, $50 billion for environment-proofing utility systems, $39 billion for public transit and $25 billion in airports, the White House reported.

The bill will reportedly be funded in part by redirecting $205 billion in COVID-19 relief funds, the recollection of $50 billion in fraudulently paid pandemic unemployment benefits as well as states returning any of their unused federal unemployment funds.

In June, the White House and a group of Senate Republicans agreed to a bipartisan infrastructure framework. Democratic congressional leaders have said that the bill would be passed in tandem with other Democratic proposals to fund "human infrastructure," such as expanded healthcare, childcare and eldercare benefits.

Congressional Democrats intend on trying to pass their "human infrastructure" proposals using the budget reconciliation process. The legislative route would allow Democrats to avoid the 60-vote filibuster and pass legislation through a simple majority vote.

The main restriction to reconciliation is the Byrd Rule, named after the late Democratic Senator Robert Byrd. The rules allow a provision to be removed from the budget reconciliation process if it is deemed "extraneous" to the budget. It's up to the Senate parliamentarian to interpret chamber rules and decide what is extraneous.

Senate Republicans bipartisan infrastructure bill vote — All 50 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus and 17 Senate Republicans have voted to move the bipartisan infrastructure bill forward. In this photo, the lead GOP negotiators on the bipartisan infrastructure legislation, L-R, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) speak to reporters after meeting privately with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at the U.S. Capitol on July 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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