BREAKING NEWS: Senate votes 69-30 to PASS the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill: 19 Republicans including Mitch McConnell join Democrats to approve package that paves the way for the $3.5 trillion budget spending spree
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday handed President Joe Biden a $1 trillion victory, passing the largest infrastructure bill in decades, promising years of investment in roads, bridges and internet access.
It passed on a vote of 69 to 30 as 19 Republicans joined Democratic senators in voting in favor of the bipartisan bill.
Vice President Kamala Harris, as presiding officer, announced the final tally.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote: 'There's been detours and everything else, but this will do a whole lot of good for America.'
Minority leader Mitch McConnell was among the Republicans who joined Democrats to get the bill over the finish line, as was Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said: 'This bill provides American infrastructure with a much-needed facelift.'
But the moment of bipartisan agreement is likely to be brief as Democrats plan to push ahead immediately with their vast $3.5 trillion budget bill to address social care, education, climate change and a raft of Biden's key domestic policy priorities.
Republicans have made clear their deep opposition to such a sweeping spending program.
Vice President Kamala Harris made the trip to the U.S. Capitol to announce the 69-30 result after the Senate voted on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill
The Senate finally voted on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Tuesday morning, following months of tortuous negotiations that frequently skirted collapse
The bipartisan vote is likely to prove only a brief moment of agreement in Washington's divided politics. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (left) said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's vast budget was like handing 'the Squad a pen and a piece of paper'
Even before the infrastructure bill passed, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that Democrats were preparing to play 'Russian roulette with our country.'
'The basic math of their taxing and spending is toxic enough. But the radicalism that we’ll be debating on this floor goes beyond the dollars and cents.
'The policies they want to put behind this budget resolution read like somebody walked across the rotunda to the House and handed "the Squad" a pen and a piece of paper.'
But on Tuesday, Democrats were quick to celebrate the achievement.
Biden tweeted: 'Big news, folks: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal has officially passed the Senate.
'I hope Congress will send it to my desk as soon as possible so we can continue our work of building back better.'
Even a repeated barrage of angry broadsides from former President Trump could not stop Republicans backing the investment.
Sen. Rob Portman, one of the Republican negotiators said: 'It is time to fix our roads and bridges.
'We can do so in a responsible way. Not by raising taxes on the American people, but by making important investments in long-term capital assets that will last for years.'
Republicans who voted against the package said they feared opening the doors to even more spending with the budget.
Sen. Doc Marshall of Kansas said: 'Over the past 28 months, Congress has borrowed more than $6 trillion above our budget, our country is now approaching $30 trillion in debt, and as a result, we are seeing runaway inflation with no sign of letting up.
'This legislation is a gateway to Democrats’ multi-trillion dollar socialist spending bill that will raise our taxes, increase burdensome federal mandates, and continue to drive up the cost of everyday goods and services.'
Earlier Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the infrastructure agreement showed bipartisan progress was possible in a divided Washington.
'This is a big day,' Buttigieg said on CNN's New Day. 'What we see in today's bitterly divided Washington is Republicans and Democrats coming together with the president to say we need to do this.'
'Well, it's taken quite a while, there have been a lot of bumps in the road, but in a few minutes, I will announce that we have come to an agreement for final passage of the bipartisan infrastructure proposal,' Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday night.
'Let me say this, it has taken quite a long time, and there have been detours and everything else, but this will do a whole lot of good for America, and the Senate can be proud it has passed this,' Schumer added.
After the Senate passes this bill, the upper chamber will turn around and work on a $3.5 trillion budget proposal, which Democrats plan to pass via reconciliation - meaning they'll only need members of their own party, and Vice President Kamala Harris, to get the bill over the line.
The infrastructure plan includes $550 billion in new spending money for roads, bridges and broadband - traditional infrastructure.
President Biden arrived back at the White House on Tuesday after a long weekend at his Delaware home as senators were voting on one of his key legislative priorities. He tweeted that he wanted the bill on his desk to sign 'as soon as possible'
The bigger, second bill includes cash for anti-poverty and climate change initiatives.
'After we finish on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, we will move immediately to proceed to the budget resolution with reconciliation instructions and expect to move to vote-a-rama shortly thereafter,' Schumer explained Monday night.
The Senate is trying to get business done before the traditional August recess.
The House has been out since late July.
When the House comes back into session, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she plans to have lawmakers consider both bills together.
Some moderate House Democrats have called on Pelosi, however, to quickly get the bipartisan infrastructure bill across the line, before considering the larger, more politically tricky $3.5 trillion budget bill.
'This once-in-a-century investment deserves its own consideration,' wrote Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Golden of Maine, among others, in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. 'We cannot afford unnecessary delays.'
Buttigieg was asked to respond to House Democrats who wanted to tie the two bills together, which could imperil the bipartisan deal.
'Well my basic message is - this is good policy and it is good funding. What we're talking about here represents the most significant infrastructure funding we've done in my lifetime and then some,' Buttigieg said.
'Of course we believe in the second track too,' he added. 'That's the president's economic vision.'
Former President Donald Trump - who remains banned from Twitter - has sent out a number of statements slamming Republicans who have gotten on board with the deals.
On Tuesday, a couple of hours before the vote, he blasted the Senate Republican leader for going along with Democrats.
'Nobody will ever understand why Mitch McConnell allowed this non-infrastructure bill to be passed,' he said.
'He has given up all of his leverage for the big whopper of a bill that will follow. I have quietly said for years that Mitch McConnell is the most overrated man in politics - now I don’t have to be quiet anymore.'
During Trump's tenure, 'infrastructure week' became a punchline because every time the White House would schedule one, some major news event would push it off the rails.
Trump and McConnell, both Republicans, had a falling out once Trump started denying the results of the presidential election he lost last year.
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