进步民主党人威胁要让一个两党基础设施提案如果他们没有得到保证，他们自己政党的温和派和保守派成员将支持一项独立的努力，以通过乔·拜登总统的其他关键基础设施优先事项。

那些进步人士希望得到一个保证，即民主党人会团结起来支持使用快速预算工具这被称为和解，使他们能够绕过共和党的反对，就包括气候、老人和儿童护理以及住房在内的一揽子计划进行党派投票。

参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默处境艰难。如果他希望获得通过两党基础设施法案所需的60票，他就不能失去进步人士。通过和解来通过更进步的优先事项，他不能失去一个民主党人。

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参议院多数党领袖查尔斯·舒默在参议院民主党午餐会后对记者说

“在我们的核心小组午餐中提出的一个问题是:作为这个(妥协)的一部分，民主党人会和我们一起就没有包括的内容达成和解吗?”民主党党鞭迪克·德宾周一表示。“我认为这是一个重要的问题。”

为此，舒默周二宣布，他计划召集参议院预算委员会的民主党人制定他们2022年的预算目标。此举是启动和解进程的第一步。

对于进步人士来说，民主党领导层正在推进和解的证据对于确保两党协议的投票至关重要。

参议院预算委员会主席伯尼·桑德斯已经表示，两党达成的协议没有得到他的支持。

“我不会投它的票，”他周一表示。

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参议员埃德·马基和参议员杰夫·默克莱在国会大厦就基础设施和气候保护发表讲话

但其他参议院进步人士敞开大门，表示如果他们能够“保证”以气候为核心的和解方案是确定无疑的，他们可能愿意投票支持两党协议。

马萨诸塞州参议员埃德·马基说:“最终必须有一个保证——一个绝对牢不可破的保证——气候将是我们达成的任何基础设施协议的核心。”，星期二说。“所以我们可以就过程是什么进行争论，但我们不能就最终产品是什么进行争论。

参议员杰夫·默克莱，多雷。他说，在对两党协议进行投票之前，和解方案和两党协议需要“焊接在一起”,这样他才能支持它。

依靠和解来通过对拜登议程和进步人士至关重要的优先事项，对民主党领导层来说是一场赌博。一些民主党人此前表示，他们不会支持党派努力，舒默需要所有50名参议院民主党人通过一项和解方案。

但周一晚上，立场可能发生转变，温和派参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)敞开了支持和解的大门。曼钦此前曾表示，他反对推进和解。

“我想确保他们两个都得到公平的对待，”曼钦说，他指的是两党协议和和解方案。“我们什么都在看。我只想看看账单是什么。”

俄亥俄州共和党参议员罗布·波特曼是两党提议的首席谈判代表，他星期二在共和党会议上闭门介绍了该组织的计划。

会后，共和党成员似乎对该提议越来越开放——其细节尚未向公众披露。

尽管仍有许多问题，共和党党鞭参议员约翰·图恩表示，他的成员“非常赞同”这一提议。

“我们的成员对此非常开放，”图恩说。“甚至从我们一些更保守的成员那里也有很多相当不错的反馈。”

主要谈判者一直不愿意设定谈判结束的最后期限，但时间不多了，离立法休会只有几周时间了。

“这个月两周，下个月三周，八月一周，”杜宾说。“所以你把它放在桌子上，然后说我们要做什么?很多。”

Senate progressives threaten to tank bipartisan infrastructure deal

Progressive Democrats are threatening to sink abipartisan infrastructure proposalif they do not receive assurances that moderate and conservative members of their own party would back a go-it-alone effort to pass President Joe Biden's other key infrastructure priorities.

Those progressives want a guarantee that Democrats would unite behind the use of afast-track budget toolknown as reconciliation that allows them to bypass GOP objections with a party-line vote on a package including, climate, elder and child care and housing.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in a difficult position. He cannot afford to lose progressives if he hopes to muster the 60 votes necessary to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill. And to pass more progressive priorities using reconciliation, he can't afford to lose a single Democrat.

"One of the questions asked in our caucus lunch: Will the Democrats who are a part of this (compromise) be with us on reconciliation for what is not included?" Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip, said Monday. "I think that is an important question."

To that end, Schumer announced Tuesday that he plans to convene Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee to lay out their 2022 budget objectives. This move is the first step necessary to tee up the reconciliation process.

For progressives, evidence that Democratic leadership is moving forward with reconciliation is essential to secure votes for the bipartisan deal.

Already, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders has said the bipartisan deal doesn't have his support.

"I wouldn't vote for it," he said on Monday.

But other Senate progressives held the door open, saying they could be willing to vote for the bipartisan deal if they can get a "guarantee" that a reconciliation package, with climate at the center of it, is a sure thing.

"There has to be a guarantee ultimately -- an absolute unbreakable guarantee -- that climate is going to be at the center of any infrastructure deal which we cut," Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said Tuesday. "So we can haggle over what the process is, maybe, but we can't over what the end product is.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said that the reconciliation package and the bipartisan deal need to be "welded together" before a vote on the bipartisan deal is taken in order for him to support it.

Relying on reconciliation to pass priorities essential to the Biden agenda and progressives is a gamble for Democratic leadership. Some Democrats have said previously they wouldn't back a partisan effort, and Schumer needs all 50 Senate Democrats to pass a reconciliation package.

But Monday night, in a potential shift in position, Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate who has previously said he opposes moving forward with reconciliation, left the door open to supporting it.

"I'd like to make sure that both of them get a fair look and see," Manchin said, referencing the bipartisan deal and the reconciliation package. "We're looking at everything. I just want to see what the bills are."

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, lead negotiator on the bipartisan offer, briefed the Republican conference on the group's plan behind closed doors Tuesday.

Following the meeting, GOP members seemed increasingly open to the proposal -- the details of which have not be revealed to the public.

Though a lot of questions remain, Republican whip, Sen. John Thune, said the proposal was received "favorably" by his members.

"Our members were very open to it," Thune said. "There was a lot of pretty good feedback even from some of our more conservative members."

Key negotiators have been reluctant to set a deadline on when negotiations need to be wrapped up, but time is running out, with only a few weeks before a legislative recess.

"Two weeks this month, three weeks next month, one week in August," Durbin said. "So you put that down on the table and say well what do we have to do? A lot."