Top Republican Mitch McConnell had one goal: to sabotage Biden. “100 percent of our focus is on stopping this new government,” he said in May.
Two months later, the Republican minority leader in the Senate still supported Biden’s giga infrastructure package. A total of 19 Republican Senators voted on Tuesday to raise $ 1 trillion to repair holey streets and ramshackle bridges, expand high-speed internet and prepare for climate change.
It’s a huge domestic success for Biden. The non-party think tank Brookings Institution calls its infrastructure package the “largest in decades” and a “cross-generational investment”. It is historical, however, mainly because the Democrats and Republicans have worked together so constructively for the first time in years. So it still works.
What made the difference
The subject, says McConnell. After all, good roads are also in the interests of the Republicans.
Many of the Republican signatories are in their first term. You don’t want to fight for re-election empty-handed.
In addition, the package can be understood as an open rebellion against Trump – who loudly called for a boycott.
And then it should have been down to Biden himself: an experienced, moderate negotiator. For weeks there was a small group wrestling about content and size.
The package has not yet crossed the finish line.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not want to vote until the Senate has passed an even larger social and climate package. Who would have thought that Biden’s toughest opponents would come from your own party?