周三，参议院民主党人在允许两党基础设施协议推进的关键测试投票中失利，此前参与谈判的共和党人表示，他们需要更多时间敲定细节，然后才能帮助民主党人达到参议院60票的门槛，开始就该法案进行辩论。
而多数党领袖查克·舒默的努力失败了——把他和总统交出去乔·拜登至少暂时的政治损失是当务之急——白宫周三早些时候表示，总统“极其支持”舒默的战略，该战略旨在就这项将在“传统基础设施”上花费1.2万亿美元的措施启动谈判。
党派之争以49票对51票失败，掩盖了幕后的礼让，因为一个由11名参议员组成的两党小组正在幕后狂热地工作，以最终确定他们资助重大公共工程项目的一揽子条款，从桥梁和高速公路到公共交通和宽带。
“这次投票并不是制定每一个最终细节的最后期限。这不是试图干扰任何人，”舒默周三上午在下午摊牌前在参议院说。
“根据谈判人员的说法，在今天下午投票的推动下——他们接近完成他们的产品，”他争辩道。“就连共和党人也一致认为，截止日期让他们前进得更快。我们在这里都希望同样的事情——通过一项两党基础设施法案。但为了完成法案，我们首先需要开始。”
一直试图达成协议的两党参议员小组中的主要共和党谈判代表表示，他们相信可以在周一之前敲定协议。
“我们正在取得巨大进展，我希望多数党领袖会重新考虑，只是把投票推迟到周一。这不是对他的大要求，”缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·科林斯周一上午告诉记者。
周二晚些时候，这群人关起门来吃了两个多小时的墨西哥食物和酒，但没有解决他们在如何支付套餐费用上的所有分歧。
共和党人说，舒默很清楚他们的立场，即等到下周举行投票将增加成功的机会。
犹他州共和党参议员米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)周三下午告诉记者，10名共和党人已经签署了一封给舒默的信，表示他们准备支持周一接受该法案。
他说，他的理解是，“舒默领导人想知道是否有10名共和党人支持该法案，我们已经表示，是的，有10名。可能更多。”
undefined谈判代表周二表示，两党法案还有大约六个遗留问题，其中最棘手的是如何安排公共交通系统的支出。
与此同时，这位资深议员预计，这项立法将在周一前定稿，其中包括各机构对所有融资选项进行的无党派分析、将产生多少收入以及最终价格标签。
尤其是共和党人，他们将希望表明5790亿美元的新支出已经全部付清。
由于投票似乎肯定会失败，舒默在最后一刻将他的选票转向了失败的一方，这使他作为多数党领袖，能够根据参议院的规则再次召集投票进行重新考虑。
周三的投票将开始就空壳法案进行辩论，因为谈判代表没有最终的法案。如果谈判者达成最终协议，它将成为一个占位符。
这项措施与拜登和民主党正在推动的一项规模更大的法案不同，该法案将花费3.5万亿美元用于所谓的“人类基础设施”，如儿童保育。
民主党人计划使用一种叫做“和解”的预算工具，在没有共和党人投票的情况下推动参议院通过该法案。
Senate Democrats lose vote to advance bipartisan infrastructure deal Biden wants
Senate Democrats on Wednesday lost a key test vote to allow a bipartisan infrastructure deal to advance -- after Republicans involved in the talks say they needed more time to finalize details before helping Democrats meet the Senate's 60-vote threshold to start debate on the bill.
While Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's effort failed -- handing him and PresidentJoe Bidenat least a temporary political loss on a top priority -- the White House earlier Wednesday the president was "extremely supportive" of Schumer's strategy aimed at jump starting negotiations on the measure that would spend $1.2 trillion on "traditional infrastructure."
The partisan defeat, by a vote of 49 to 51, belied the comity behind the scenes as a bipartisan group of 11 senators works feverishly behind the scenes to finalize the terms of their package to fund major public works projects, from bridges and highways to public transit and broadband.
"This vote is not a deadline to have every final detail worked out. It is not an attempt to jam anyone," Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning ahead of the afternoon showdown.
"According to the negotiators, spurred on by this vote this afternoon –- they are close to finalizing their product," he argued. "Even Republicans have agreed that the deadline has moved them forward more quickly. We all want the same thing here – to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill. But in order to finish the bill, we first need to start."
Key Republican negotiators in the bipartisan group of senators who have been trying to work out the deal say they believe they can finalize it by Monday.
"We are making tremendous progress, and I hope that the majority leader will reconsider and just delay the vote until Monday. That's not a big ask of him," GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told reporters Monday morning.
The group huddled over Mexican food and wine behind closed doors for over two hours late Tuesday night, but left without squaring all of their differences on how to pay for package.
Schumer, the Republicans say, is well-aware of their position that waiting until next week to hold a vote would heighten the chances of success.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters Wednesday afternoon that 10 Republicans have signed a letter to Schumer indicating that they are prepared to support taking up the bill on Monday.
He said it was his understanding that "Leader Schumer wanted to understand if there were ten Republicans in favor of getting on the bill, and we’ve indicated, Yeah, there are ten. Probably more."
Negotiators said Tuesday that there are about six remaining issues with the bipartisan bill, the thorniest of which is how to structure spending on public transit systems.
At the same time, the senior lawmaker expects the legislation to be finalized by Monday, and that includes the nonpartisan analyses by various agencies breaking down all of the financing options, how much revenue would be produced, and a final price tag.
Republicans, in particular, will be looking to show that the $579 billion in new spending is fully paid for.
As the seemed certain to fail, Schumer switch his vote to the losing side at the last minute, enabling him as majority leader, under Senate rules, to call up the vote again for reconsideration.
The Wednesday vote is to start debate on a shell bill because there is no final bill from the negotiators. It would serve as a placeholder should negotiators strike a final deal.
The measure is separate from a much larger bill Biden and Democrats are pushing that would spend $3.5 trillion on so-called "human infrastructure" such as child care.
Democrats plan to push that through the Senate with no Republican votes, using a budget tool called "reconciliation."
