President Biden on Monday pledged to fight as hard as possible to pass an infrastructure package as he defended his $2.25 trillion proposal amid Republican criticism that it contains provisions unrelated to infrastructure.

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Speaking to reporters at the White House upon returning from Camp David, where he spent Easter weekend, Biden suggested Republican lawmakers are acting hypocritically in criticizing his plan.

“It’s kind of interesting that when the Republicans put forward an infrastructure plan, they thought everything from broadband from dealing with other things was in the range of infrastructure. Now they’re saying that only a small portion of what I am saying is infrastructure,” Biden told reporters. “It’s interesting to see how their definition of infrastructure has changed. They know we need it.”  . . .

Biden also pushed back on Republican criticism of his plan to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent in order to pay for the package, saying there is “no evidence” that doing so will drive U.S.-based companies to relocate in other countries.  . . .

Biden unveiled his $2.25 trillion infrastructure package last week. It has since generated substantial Republican criticism over provisions included to address climate change and a corporate tax rate increase the president has proposed to pay for the plan. . . .

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a critical swing vote, complicated that path Monday when he said he didn’t support Biden’s plan to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent and had other problems with the bill as well.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” argued that 30 percent of Biden’s plan focuses on traditional infrastructure and suggested that the White House reduce the dollar amount of the package to about $615 billion in order to pass it. . . .

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said last week that Republicans would not support the bill and pledged to fight Democrats’ agenda “every step of the way.”

The White House has said Biden is open to input from Republicans and Democrats and will hold meetings on the proposal after the Easter recess, but officials have made clear Biden is not ruling out trying to pass a package without GOP support. Biden would not say Monday where there was room for negotiation on the proposal.  . . .

Click  HERE to read the worst items in Biden’s Infrastructure Bill.

Senate Parliamentarian opens the door for ditching reconciliation

According to The Gateway Pundit, “The Senate Parliamentarian on Monday ruled that Democrats can go around the GOP filibuster on two more bills, paving the way for Biden’s gargantuan infrastructure bill to pass in two separate packages with simple-majority votes.

This is a win for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who has been fiercely fighting to get rid of the filibuster to push through the left’s radical agenda.

Last month Democrat Senators went around Republicans by passing Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion ‘Covid relief bill’ through budget reconciliation, a process that requires only a simple majority vote.

The Democrats may be able to use the same reconciliation to ram through Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure package that has almost nothing to do with infrastructure. . . .

While this is an early ruling and there are still hoops to jump through, it will enable Schumer and Pelosi to split Biden’s infrastructure proposal into two separate packages. . . .

Republicans argued that the Democrats are abusing the reconciliation process.

CNN reported:

The Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Democrats may amend the budget resolution they used for their Covid-19 relief bill and attach another set of reconciliation instructions to it, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The ruling is a key step for Democrats as they weigh their options for moving infrastructure legislation, potentially giving them a route to pass new legislation without Republican votes. It’s important to note, however, that some details are still going to have to be worked out with the parliamentarian, and it was not immediately clear whether it could be used to pass President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan.

A Democratic Senate aide familiar with the parliamentarian’s ruling told CNN on Monday “there is no doubt that this was good news,” but cautioned that there will likely need to be more rulings before Democrats could move forward using the reconciliation process to advance the President’s infrastructure plan. “But there is still a great deal that needs to be worked out,” the aide said. “This was just the opening salvo in what will be a long and complicated process.”

Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (WV) on Monday said he will not support Joe Biden’s corporate tax hike which is designed to supposedly “offset” the infrastructure package’s costs.

Joe Manchin said on Monday he rejects Joe Biden’s corporate tax increase to 28% and he may not be the only Democrat to break with the president on the enormous tax increase. . . .

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(Excerpt from The Hill. Article by Morgan Chalfant. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)