周五，在共和党人断然拒绝白宫提出的数万亿美元法案的反提案后，两党关于基础设施的谈判遇到了新的障碍。

白宫周五提出的1.7万亿美元的提议是乔·拜登总统的美国就业计划的缩减版，最初价值为2.2万亿美元。

在收到协议的几分钟内，共和党助手拒绝了它，告诉美国广播公司新闻，价格太高，共和党无法承受。

西弗吉尼亚州参议员雪莱·摩尔·卡皮托(Shelley Moore Capito)的发言人星期五在一份声明中说，拜登的一揽子计划“远远超出了国会在两党支持下可以通过的范围”。

格雷格·纳什/路透社泳池

参议员雪莱·摩尔·卡皮托在参议院拨款委员会听证会上提问

凯皮托的发言人凯利·摩尔(Kelley Moore)表示:“在基础设施的定义、拟议支出的规模以及如何支付方面，白宫和参议院共和党人之间仍然存在巨大差异。”

在周五的新闻发布会上，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)称赞新的白宫人物是政府方面的一个坚实的妥协。

“这是寻求共同点的行为，我应该说是艺术，”普萨基告诉美国广播公司新闻部高级白宫记者玛丽·布鲁斯。"这项提议显示出愿意缩小规模，在一些对总统来说很重要的领域上做出让步。"

安娜·赚钱者/盖蒂图像公司

白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基在詹姆斯·布雷迪普雷的每日新闻发布会上发言

根据美国广播公司周五获得的白宫提案副本，白宫通过削减制造、研究和开发资金，并削减宽带扩展以及道路、桥梁和传统基础设施的支出，将最初的提案削减了5500亿美元。

但这不足以满足共和党人，他们希望拜登在新提议中对基础设施的定义采取更狭隘的观点。拜登的反提案坚持为白宫称为“人类基础设施”的项目保留资金，如家庭护理和儿童护理的资金，共和党人一直拒绝这些项目。

白宫在聘书中辩称，因为他们愿意放弃研究和创新资金，共和党人应该让他们保留医疗保健计划。

该提案称:“因为总统为了这些谈判的目的而离开了谈判桌，你认为的一个重要投资类别不是基础设施，他认为公平要求你考虑在他认为至关重要但目前没有包括在你的路线图中的领域进行投资。”

关于如何为大规模一揽子计划提供资金的谈判也依然停滞不前。

拜登提议通过提高企业税率为他稳健的基础设施计划提供资金，这对于共和党人来说是不可能的，他们认为这是对2017年特朗普税收法案的公投，一些人认为这是前总统任期内最重要的立法成就。

“我们对重开2017年税收法案不感兴趣。上周拜登和四名国会领导人在白宫会晤后，参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔说。“那是红线。”

在本周早些时候提交给白宫的一份提议中，共和党人提议用通行费等使用费为该法案提供部分资金，要求那些利用新基础设施项目的人帮助支付费用。

白宫周五拒绝了这一想法，声称这种税收将增加“工作的美国人的负担”。

“我们的方法应该确保公司支付他们的公平份额，”白宫的提议说。

然而，它没有具体说明拜登是否像他过去建议的那样对25%的公司税率持开放态度，或者他是否仍然坚持他最初提出的28%的税率。

共和党人在上周与拜登会面后持乐观态度，但随着拜登设定阵亡将士纪念日的最后期限，他们将在似乎比以往任何时候都更加不均衡的基础上进入立法会议的最后一周。

卡皮托的发言人说:“根据今天的会议，在与白宫工作人员举行两次会议后，这些团体似乎比与拜登总统举行一次会议后更加分裂。”

随着周五白宫提议后乐观情绪的减弱，民主党人可能很快会尝试单干，使用一种称为和解的程序工具，使他们能够绕过参议院通过立法通常需要的60票门槛。

但以这种方式推进立法需要平均分配的参议院中所有50名民主党参议员的一致支持，目前还不清楚拜登是否会在包括“人力基础设施”的一揽子计划中支持这一点。

西弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)表示，他支持一个规模较小、范围更窄的一揽子计划，这与共和党最初提出的计划并无不同。麦康奈尔预测，一个大的一揽子计划不会有一个共和党人投票。

拜登经常吹嘘自己有能力在竞选过程中让共和党和民主党走到一起，对他来说，在没有共和党支持的情况下前进可能会耗费他的政治资本。

在10月份的美国广播公司新闻发布会上，拜登说，“我向你保证，将会有4到8名共和党参议员愿意在两党达成共识的情况下推进事情。”

Infrastructure negotiations snagged again as Republicans reject Biden's counterproposal

Bipartisan negotiations on infrastructure hit a new snag Friday after Republicans flatly rejected a counterproposal on the multi-trillion dollar bill advanced by the White House.

The White House's $1.7 trillion dollar offer on Friday was a pared down version of President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan, initially valued at $2.2 trillion.

Within moments of receiving the deal, Republican aides rejected it, telling ABC News that the price tag is too high for the GOP to stomach.

A spokesperson for West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who is leading the Republican effort to strike a bipartisan compromise on infrastructure, said in a statement Friday that the Biden package is “ well above the range of what can pass Congress with bipartisan support.”

“There continue to be vast differences between the White House and Senate Republicans when it comes to the definition of infrastructure, the magnitude of proposed spending and how to pay for it,” said Kelley Moore, a spokesperson for Capito.

In a press briefing Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki touted the new White House figure as a solid compromise on the part of the administration.

"This is the act, the art I should say, of seeking common ground," Psaki told ABC News’ Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce. "This proposal exhibits a willingness to come down in size, giving on some areas that are important to the president."

According to a copy of the White House proposal obtained by ABC News Friday, the White House shaved $550 billion off its initial proposal by dropping funds for manufacturing, research and development, and also cutting spending for broadband expansion and roads, bridges and traditional infrastructure.

But it’s hardly enough to satiate Republicans, who hoped Biden would adopt a more narrow view of what defines infrastructure in this new offer. Biden’s counterproposal insists on keeping funds for items the White House refers to as “human infrastructure,” like funding for home care and child care, which Republicans have always rejected.

The White House argues in the offer letter that because they are willing to drop research and innovation funding, Republicans ought to let them keep care initiatives.

"Because the president is taking off the table for purposes of these negotiations a significant category of investment that you have argued is not infrastructure, he believes fairness dictates that you consider investments in areas that he believes are vital but are not currently included in your roadmap," the proposal says.

Negotiations over how to fund the massive package also remain stuck.

Biden proposed funding his robust infrastructure plan by hiking the corporate tax rate, a non-starter for Republicans who see this as a referendum on the 2017 Trump tax bill, which some consider the most significant legislative achievement of the former president's tenure.

"We're not interested in reopening the 2017 tax bill. We both made that clear to the president," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said following a meeting at the White House between Biden and the four Congressional leaders last week. "That is a red line."

In an offer to the White House presented earlier this week, Republicans proposed funding the bill in part with user fees, like tolls, that ask those utilizing new infrastructure projects to help foot the bill.

The White House offer on Friday rejected that idea, claiming such taxes would increase the “burden on working Americans.”

"Our approach should ensure that corporations are paying their fair share," the White House offer says.

However, it did not specify whether Biden is open to a 25% corporate tax rate, as he has suggested in the past, or whether he is still pulling for his original offer of 28%.

Republicans were optimistic after a meeting with Biden last week, but with a Memorial Day deadline set by Biden, they'll advance into their final week of the legislative session on seemingly more uneven ground than ever before.

“Based on today’s meeting, the groups seem further apart after two meetings with White House staff than they were after one meeting with President Biden,” Capito’s spokesperson said.

With optimism waning after Friday’s White House offer, Democrats could soon attempt efforts to go it alone, using a procedural tool called reconciliation that would allow them to bypass the 60-vote threshold normally needed to pass legislation in the Senate.

But moving legislation this way requires unanimous support of all 50 Democratic Senators in the evenly divided Senate, and it’s not clear at this point that Biden would have that on a package that includes “human infrastructure”.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has said he supports a smaller, more narrowly tailored package, not unlike the one that Republicans initially proposed. McConnell has predicted that a large package wouldn’t see a single Republican vote.

For Biden, who often touted his ability to bring Republicans and Democrats together on the campaign trail, going forward without Republican support could cost him political capital.

At an ABC News town hall in October, Biden said, “There’s going to be, I promise you, between four and eight Republican senators who are going to be willing to move on things where there’s bipartisan consensus."