WASHINGTON — Negotiations between President Joe Biden and a group of Republican senators on reaching a compromise on infrastructure legislation has officially ended.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has been spearheading the conversations from the GOP side. Biden and Capito spoke Tuesday by phone for only a few minutes, according to reports, and it appears the two sides are too far apart to reach a deal.
Biden "informed Senator Capito today that the latest offer from her group did not, in his view, meet the essential needs of our country," White House Press Secretary Jen Psakisaid in a prepared statement.
Biden is reaching out to senators from both parties now, as the White House tries to build bipartisan support for a compromise deal.
"The President also spoke with Senators Sinema, Cassidy, and Manchin today. He urged them to continue their work with other Democrats and Republicans to develop a bipartisan proposal," Psaki said.
Republicans had offered a $928 billion proposal, which included about $330 billion in new spending.
Biden was seeking a $1.7 trillion investment.
The money is for roads, bridges, and other infrastructure projects.
A major stumbling block between the two sides has been how to pay for the work that needs to be done.
Biden has proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, which has been outright rejected by Republicans, who are unwilling to touch the 2017 tax cuts law signed by former President Trump. The Republican group had suggested using funds from previous coronavirus relief measures to pay for the bill, but the White House has turned this down and also opposes the idea of user fees.
The Biden administration is also hoping that by raising the domestic corporate tax rate from to 28 percent, it can reap more than $3 trillion to help pay for its expensive jobs and infrastructure proposals.
Under Reagan, it ranged from 29.2 percent to 31.1 percent.
