Agreement on major issues in infrastructure deal

GOP negotiators announce they have an agreement on major issues in infrastructure deal

By Jessica Dean, Ali Zaslav, Kristin Wilson and Lauren Fox

GOP members of the bipartisan group negotiating an infrastructure deal announced they have an agreement on their major issues and hope to move forward with a procedural vote as soon as Wednesday evening, an optimistic sign for the group that has been seeking a deal for weeks.

The Republican senators made the announcement after a meeting in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office on Wednesday morning.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, the chief Republican negotiator, said the bipartisan group is working to craft an infrastructure bill now needs to finalize legislative language, which they will work on throughout the day and will have complete by the procedural vote on the bill which they hope is Wednesday night.

A group of bipartisan senators have been working for weeks trying to nail down the specifics of a deal since they announced an agreement on top line numbers last month. Democrats are trying to move this deal along, as part of a two-prong plan to deliver on President Joe Biden's legislative agenda. The bipartisan deal is separate from the $3.5 trillion plan Democrats are also trying to push through Congress, though some progressives have said they won't support the bipartisan plan without also advancing the Democrats' bill.

Senators are racing to make progress on the plans ahead of a pre-scheduled August recess, though Democratic leaders have said they could cancel or delay the start of recess depending on the negotiations.