Governor Gretchen Whitmer was in Grand Rapids Wednesday to sign a nearly $5 billion infrastructure plan into law to ensure that Michigan families will have better roads, internet access, parks, housing, and water.
Legislation aimed at infrastructure and social programs also includes big changes in energy, transportation and disaster preparation. They would amount to the most significant climate action ever taken by the United States.
West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin reiterated his commitment to a $1.5 trillion top line for reconciliation, but his murky public statements about the massive climate and social spending package have sparked pointed criticism from Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.
A proposed rule would require agencies to study the climate impacts of new highways, pipelines and other projects, reversing a Trump-era effort to weaken reviews.
Sen. Bernie Sanders defended the squabbling between progressive and moderate Democrats that threatens to torpedo President Biden's legislative agenda and predicted the two spending bills worth trillions of dollars will move forward together.
With a bipartisan infrastructure bill set for a Thursday vote in the House, a campaign by business groups and some Senate Republicans to secure G.O.P. support may be the measure’s last hope.
The House returns to Washington on Monday to try to win passage of a measure needed to protect a $3.5 trillion social policy bill from a filibuster, but fractures in the party are starting to show.
