Mitch McConnell says the GOP won't support the infrastructure plan, report says

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the infrastructure package won't get GOP votes, per Politico.
• McConnell had already criticized the package, calling it a "missed opportunity."
• Lack of GOP support would mean that Democrats may have to use reconciliation to pass it.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Joe Biden's new infrastructure package won't get any Republican votes in the Senate, Politico reports.

At a Kentucky event, McConnell reportedly criticized the package for the impact it could have on debt, and the accompanying proposal to hike taxes on corporations.

"That package that they're putting together now, as much as we would like to address infrastructure, is not going to get support from our side," McConnell said, per Politico. "Because I think the last thing the economy needs right now is a big, whopping tax increase."

McConnell already released a statement slamming the package, calling it a "Trojan horse" for tax hikes.

"Our nation could use a serious, targeted infrastructure plan," he said. "There would be bipartisan support for a smart proposal. Unfortunately, the latest liberal wish list the White House has decided to label 'infrastructure' is a major missed opportunity by this Administration."

When reached for comment, McConnell's team directed Insider to a series of statements from Senate Republicans as well as his prior statement.

Setting the stage for more reconciliation

If no GOP members vote for the bill - as happened with the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan - Democrats may have to try to pass it via party-line reconciliation yet again. That could get thorny, as moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin has said he wants any infrastructure package to be bipartisan and not passed via reconciliation - yet he wanted it to include tax hikes.

Democrats are also limited in how many times they can use reconciliation to pass bills ina given fiscal year, but that may be more flexible than previously assumed.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been looking into a potential loophole that would trigger multiple reconciliation bills in a given year, leaving Democrats with potentially multiple opportunities to pass one. And this week's infrastructure package will be followed by another in mid-April, and Republicans' track record indicates they won't support that one, either.