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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11894140" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="inflation" source="Orion">Inflation</keyword> has increased the costs of consumer goods, especially materials for repairing roads. </li><li>The rising coast has "evaporated" federal funds for repairs, T<a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-us-infrastructure-projects-e89dcd5f3e623e532353f087265f9a63">he Associated Press</a> reported. </li></ul>Money set aside to build new roads and bridges as part of <keyword id="60973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden" source="Orion">Biden</keyword>'s $1 trillion infrastructure project is 'evaporating' as inflation raises the costs of materials, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-us-infrastructure-projects-e89dcd5f3e623e532353f087265f9a63">the Associated Press</a> reported. "Those dollars are essentially evaporating," Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, told the AP. "The cost of those projects is going up by 20%, by 30%, and just wiping out that increase from the federal government that they were so excited about earlier in the year."The rising prices have decreased how much can be done with the funds, and officials in various states have said the money isn't going as far as they'd like. They're concerned they'll now take more years to complete projects. Inflation <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-report-cpi-may-gas-prices-federal-reserve-rate-hikes-2022-6">rose last month</a> to the highest rate in 41 years. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-i-dont-think-recession-is-inevitable-2022-6">inflation is "unacceptably high,"</a> but said she didn't think a recession was "inevitable."

Money to build new roads and bridges under Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure project is 'evaporating' because of inflation

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Transportation Secretary <keyword id="12026650" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pete-buttigieg" source="Orion">Pete Buttigieg</keyword> enjoyed his best political year in <keyword id="11908717" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="2021" source="Orion">2021</keyword>.</li><li>Experts say <keyword id="12345069" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="2022" source="Orion">2022</keyword> will be harder for Buttigieg to navigate as he implements the infrastructure law. </li></ul>When he visited the White House in November for the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-signs-infrastructure-bill-at-white-house">signing</a> of the bipartisan infrastructure law on the South Lawn, former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood huddled with the current occupant of his old Cabinet agency.But amid the celebratory atmosphere and some 800 guests, LaHood had advice—and a warning—for Pete Buttigieg that laid bare the stakes of this political moment for the former 2020 presidential contender."Pete, you got to be the decider," LaHood told him, referencing the hundreds of billions of dollars in grant money that Buttigieg will soon be delivering around the country for big projects like roads, bridges, ports, and tunnels. "Take all the recommendations you want, but in the end, you have to make the decision on every one of these grant programs and projects, because if they're going to be successful, President <keyword id="60973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden" source="Orion">Biden</keyword> will get the credit. If they're not successful, you're going to get the criticism." History is replete with examples of Cabinet officials getting caught in the bureaucratic muck and seeing their career paths go haywire because of it: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for example, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/us/politics/benghazi-report-hillary-clinton-house-committee.html">spent much of her 2016 presidential campaign</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/us/politics/gop-seeks-criminal-inquiry-of-hillary-clintons-testimony-to-congress.html">answering for her time</a> in the Obama administration. That's why LaHood was talking to Buttigieg and suggesting he assemble a task force within his department of political and career staffers, as well as an infrastructure coordinator, that can be his eyes and ears for any potential obstacles. Buttigieg knows he'll be held to a high standard, and appears to have taken the advice to heart. Even before the law's passage, he held an internal DOT town hall focusing on implementation. In the weeks following, he would act on most if not all of LaHood's suggestions, setting up a DOT working group while partnering with another former mayor—Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans—who is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/14/us/politics/biden-mitch-landrieu-infrastructure.html">serving</a> as Biden's senior adviser and infrastructure coordinator. In the post, the White House said, Landrieu would "oversee the most significant and comprehensive investments in American infrastructure in generations." (Landrieu and Buttigieg have been allies; the fellow former mayor <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/20/politics/pete-buttigieg-dnc-mayor-endorsements/index.html">endorsed</a> Buttigieg's unsuccessful 2017 bid to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee; the White House declined to make Landrieu available for an interview.) But Buttigieg is also well aware of the political stakes he's facing at the moment. "He knows he's very vulnerable over the next year," a person close to Buttigieg told Insider. <h2>Buttigieg got off to a fast start in 2021</h2>By almost any measure, 2021 was a banner year for Buttigieg. In February, Biden's former 2020 Democratic primary rival had become the first openly gay Cabinet secretary to be Senate-confirmed. At the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pete-buttigieg-transportation-secretary-profile-2021-3">apogee</a> of his still-young political career, Buttigieg, who turns 40 on January 19, has ensconced himself as one of the most visible members of the administration, racking up appearances on cable <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword>, Sunday shows, and even late-night television. He's also saturating local media markets through his travels to red states and blue states. He's built bipartisan relationships with members of Congress via some 300 calls to secure the bipartisan infrastructure law's passage, according to his office. He's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/buttigieg-infrastructure-bill-transportation-secretary-2021-11">jet-setted</a> to Glasgow for COP26, the United Nations climate summit, posing with former President Barack Obama. Buttigieg even enjoyed the global release of an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pete-buttigieg-dishes-on-his-future-as-a-presidential-candidate-2021-10">Amazon</a> documentary chronicling his 2020 presidential campaign. And the supply chain<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-store-shelves-are-empty-supply-chain-crisis-shortages-2021-10"> crisis </a>some expected to delay Christmas gifts never quite <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/22/business/christmas-gifts-delivery-supply-chain.html">materialized</a>. <div type="image" title="Buttigieg visits the Port of Savannah." height="3034" width="4046" msid="88671983" hostid="261"></div>Even at the mercy of the most partisan members of the GOP, Buttigieg's Midwestern demeanor and McKinsey-honed competency haven't attracted the kind of heat-seeking GOP missiles elicited by other Cabinet secretaries. In October, a <a href="https://punchbowl.news/?utm_source=PaidSearch&amp;utm_medium=Search&amp;utm_campaign=Search&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA2ZCOBhDiARIsAMRfv9KFcQfties2NDjX8ACgMbSqA28siHbsKRUgKpD0q91ZA_hNkHgWqXIaApTwEALw_wcB">Punchbowl</a> News analysis showed that only <a href="https://twitter.com/RonnyJacksonTX/status/1452663461071163397?s=20">one</a> Congressional Republican had called for his resignation, fewer than any other Biden Cabinet member. However rosy 2021 proved to be for Buttigieg, 2022 could prove a bumpier road for the Rhodes Scholar, as his day job turns from selling the infrastructure bill to steering its implementation. With $550 billion in new infrastructure spending about to go out the door, Buttigieg faces a series of potential political pitfalls in the coming months—including learning how to say "no" to projects that don't make the cut, according to experts in both congressional oversight and transportation policy. In many ways, Buttigieg's political career is just beginning. But the coming years could test his mettle more than the crucible of a 2020 presidential campaign ever did.<h2>Buttigieg's political exposure</h2>Following the infrastructure law's passage, Buttigieg finds himself as a possible target of both the right and the left. Democrats—particularly those in the party's progressive wing—may quibble with some of Buttigieg's moves, said Beth Osborne, a former Obama-era DOT hand and one of Buttigieg's former presidential campaign advisers. She told Insider she's disappointed in the infrastructure legislation that finally passed, based on its delivered-versus-promised impact on climate change and Black citizens of historically divided communities. "He does have a very hard job because he's made promises," said Osborne, director of Transportation for America, an advocacy group for more equitable transportation policies, who last spoke with Buttigieg by phone in February after his Senate confirmation. (Through a round of grants issued to projects to two dozen states in June, Buttigieg's DOT considered climate change and racial equity in their analysis of each project's merit). Osborne added: "I think he needs to be careful about the promises he's making when he's dependent on people who might not have the same priorities he has." That's because much of the law's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/us/politics/racial-equity-states-government.html">provisions</a> around reconnecting communities historically divided by highways or railways allow states discretion on how to spend it — something not likely to happen in red America. Take remarks by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential presidential candidate in <keyword id="12020051" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="2024" source="Orion">2024</keyword>, for instance.<div type="image" title="Buttigieg at an infrastructure roundtable." height="2257" width="3010" msid="88671985" hostid="261"></div>In November, DeSantis derided Buttigieg's talk of using infrastructure to help end systemic racism. "I heard some stuff, some weird stuff from the Secretary of Transportation trying to make this about social issues," DeSantis <a href="https://floridapolitics.com/archives/471820-desantis-buttigieg-racist-roads/">said</a>. "To me, a road's a road." Ahead of 2024, rejecting such moves from Buttigieg's DOT appears poised to become a litmus test for any GOP presidential candidates who serve now as governors, as accepting Medicare expansion did for 2016 Republicans.<h2>GOP oversight coming soon?</h2>Buttigieg also needs to be mindful of Capitol Hill and the prospect that Republicans could be wielding subpoena power and the ability to drive the investigative agenda should they win back control of the House or Senate in November.Recent history suggests he has reason to be concerned. Several experts pointed to the Obama-era <keyword id="12873044" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="solyndra" source="Orion">Solyndra</keyword> scandal, which saw the FBI launch a criminal investigation of the California manufacturer of solar cells that had connections to an Obama donor. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2011 despite receiving $528 million in government-backed <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/11/15/142362905/energy-secretary-chu-defends-how-administration-handled-solyndra">loan guarantees</a> via the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. While its downfall was the byproduct of rapidly-changing global market conditions for renewable energy products, Solyndra nonetheless exposed the previous Democratic administration to oversight-hungry Republicans who held countless hearings aimed at embarrassing the president and some of his most prominent Cabinet members. If Republicans take back the House in November, they are likely to ramp up oversight on Buttigieg much the same way their predecessors did with Obama and Solyndra. In a statement to Insider, House Oversight Committee ranking member James Comer said Republicans plan to keep close watch over the infrastructure law's implementation, even as they're in the minority. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is also telegraphing that GOPers will take a tougher approach on oversight should they win the majority, having already sent the Biden administration preservation <a href="https://www.axios.com/republicans-biden-probes-house-majority-25bc5f7a-269e-44c8-94dc-4700574112ca.html">requests</a> for documents related to the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal. Such actions remain little more than talking points unless House Republicans control the chamber and have subpoena power. A DOT spokesperson said the agency isn't tracking any preservation notices—legal requests to keep documents that may later lead to oversight investigations—at this time. "It is unclear how these taxpayer dollars will be used, and as we have seen in the past with debacles like Solyndra, there is plenty of room for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement," Comer told Insider. Solyndra was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/opinion/the-phony-solyndra-scandal.html">written</a> off in many quarters at the time as a manufactured scandal. But it still drew blood, putting the Obama White House <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2012/01/obama-not-afraid-of-solyndra-072058">on the defensive</a> and creating <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2012/05/mitt-crashes-solyndra-076916">a literal campaign backdrop </a>for Mitt Romney and Republicans to use in their ultimately unsuccessful bid to stop Obama's second term. Most relevant for Buttigieg, Solyndra also tarnished the reputation of Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who was one of the celebrity members of the Democratic president's Cabinet as the secretary of energy. In the same way the 2009 Recovery Act put Chu's Energy Department at the center of its plans to overhaul the economy, more than half of the bipartisan infrastructure law falls under the aegis of DOT. And Democratic and Republican veterans of political battles around the implementation of Obama's Recovery Act—the most analogous cash infusion into public projects to the infrastructure law—paint a picture of a perilous path ahead for Buttigieg, particularly if Republicans take back the House amid the 2022 midterm elections. "He basically has now until the fall campaign season to go out there and get the nice and easy press," a veteran of the Obama administration's efforts to promote and defend the Recovery Act told Insider. "And then the waters are going to get a lot rougher."<div type="image" title="2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks outside Solyndra's vacant California headquarters during his campaign against President Obama." height="1385" width="1846" msid="88671987" hostid="261"></div><h2>DOT staffing up by the hundreds</h2>There's a big incentive for GOP lawmakers to score political points at Buttigieg's expense and try to sully his future political prospects in the long term, said Kurt Bardella, who handled press for Rep. Darrell Issa when he chaired the House Oversight Committee and led one of two big GOP congressional investigations into Solyndra. To prepare, Buttigieg seems to have followed LaHood's advice down to the letter. The administration and the DOT have been staffing up. Working with Landrieu will be <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-infrastructure-law-appointments/">Katie Thomson</a>, Amazon's former vice president and associate general counsel for worldwide transportation and sustainability. In the new year, she will return to DOT as director of the bipartisan infrastructure law implementation."She understands transportation. She understands people," said a DOT veteran who worked with her during the Obama administration when she served as the department's general counsel under LaHood. A DOT spokesperson told Insider there are plans to hire hundreds of additional staffers to implement the law. According to the DOT spokesperson, Buttigieg also joins weekly calls with Landrieu and his Infrastructure Implementation Task Force. Buttigieg recently invited Landrieu to join a DOT staff call to discuss next steps and take questions from political appointee staff about implementation, the spokesperson said. And the secretary established an internal working group that meets weekly. Ultimately, Buttigieg is the one who will become the decider on infrastructure projects nationwide. And that puts Republicans in position to comb through every aspect of the various projects' backgrounds for threads on which to pull and cause problems for one of the most well known members of the Biden Cabinet. "The Republican effort will be merciless and repetitive because they see him as a threat," Bardella said. "They see him as someone that they need to attack and that puts some dents in his armor because they see him as a potential and future adversary. It will be a hyper-political and partisan effort, and it will be a relentless smear campaign designed to try to injure the political future of the secretary." The Democratic strategist who helped guide the Obama administration through Solyndra said it's almost impossible for Buttigieg and his team to prepare for the storm that's coming.Every single day for a year-and-a-half, a reporter from a Washington newspaper would email him at 3:30 p.m. with a new trove of documents among millions selectively released by the Republican Solyndra investigators, he recalled. The reporter wanted a reaction for a story that was going to run by 4:30 p.m, acknowledging that he still has "nightmares about the daily routine." "I don't know that he or the people around him are really prepared for that level of oversight or scrutiny," the Obama veteran of Solyndra said. "That's not even a knock on him. There's no way you could be, having lived through it."What's more, the Democratic strategist said, Landrieu may not fully insulate Buttigieg from all the blowback in an investigation. "What's gonna end up happening is that you're going to have a big push to spend the money," he said. "And then at that point, once the money is out the door, Mitch Landrieu's portfolio will either evolve or move, or he'll be less front and center. The folks who are gonna be left behind are the heads of the agencies that are implementing and overseeing these grants. So when they find the inevitable scandal, because there will be one—manufactured or not— Mitch will probably be gone. It will be on Pete or whichever agency is in the crossfire, but most likely Transportation."

Political potholes await Buttigieg as he starts a new year implementing Biden's infrastructure law

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11930701" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kyrsten-sinema" source="Orion">Kyrsten Sinema</keyword>'s campaign has received $500,000+ in campaign donations from the pharma industry.</li><li>The $3.5 trillion spending bill would save the US "hundreds of billions" on health care spending.</li><li>The biotechnology company Amgen gave Sinema $25,500 and is one of her largest financial backers.</li></ul>Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is said to be opposed to the current prescription drug pricing proposals in bills put forth by both the House and Senate, as well as an alternative from House centrists that would limit the drugs subject to Medicare negotiation, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/19/kyrsten-sinema-biden-drug-pricing-prescription-plan-512907">according to unnamed sources cited by Politico</a>.Sinema's stance has stalled the passage of the $3.5 trillion spending bill crafted by the <keyword id="60973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden" source="Orion">Biden</keyword> administration and fellow Democrats, even though it could jeopardize her own bipartisan <keyword id="12025847" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="infrastructure-bill" source="Orion">infrastructure bill</keyword>. Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington has previously said the majority of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which she chairs, would not vote for Sinema's infrastructure bill without first passing the spending package.If passed, the $3.5 trillion spending bill would lower the cost of certain prescription drugs by instituting reforms and allowing Medicare to negotiate prices, which would save the federal government "hundreds of billions" on health care spending, according to a <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/MEMORANDUM%20for%20Democratic%20Senators%20-%20FY2022%20Budget%20Resolution.pdf">memo for Democratic senators</a>.<h2>Sinema is a "pharma favorite in Congress" </h2>Since launching her political career, Sinema's campaign committee has received more than $500,000 in donations from the pharmaceutical and health product industries, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/kyrsten-sinema/industries?cid=N00033983&amp;cycle=CAREER&amp;type=Ip;type=I">according to OpenSecrets</a>.<a href="https://khn.org/news/a-senator-from-arizona-emerges-as-a-pharma-favorite/">Kaiser Health News</a> dubbed Sinema a "pharma favorite in Congress" after her campaign received $98,500 from PACs run by employees of drug companies and their trade groups during the 2019-20 election cycle.One of her <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/kyrsten-sinema/contributors?cid=N00033983&amp;cycle=2022&amp;type=Ip;type=I">largest financial backers</a> has been Amgen, a biotechnology company that manufactures prescription drugs for individuals with illnesses that have limited treatment options, such as cancer patients and chronically ill individuals.Insider reached out to Sinema and her team but has not received a response.Many prescription drugs made by Amgen have hefty price tags. Overall, the company made $24.24 billion in global product sales in 2020.Amgen did not respond to inquiries about whether it lobbied Sinema on prescription drug pricing reforms or how the bill's passage would impact the company's bottom line. In 2021, Amgen has spent $4.72 million on lobbying Congressional representatives over 17 bills, the majority of which address issues related to prescription drug pricing, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/bills?cycle=2021&amp;id=D0000003910391">according to OpenSecrets</a>.<h2>A super PAC with pharmaceutical industry ties funded a recent Sinema ad</h2><a href="https://transparencyreport.google.com/political-ads/advertiser/AR140998381848756224/creative/CR198367737490178048">According to Google's Transparency Report</a>, a September 9 political ad for Sinema was paid for by Center Forward, a super PAC dedicated to supporting the election of centrist Democrats, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/blue-dog-democrats-whittled-down-in-number-are-trying-to-regroup/2014/01/15/37d4e7e2-7dfd-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html">according to The Washington Post</a>. In its registration with the Washington, DC, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Center Forward lists Libby Greer and Cindy Brown from the lobbying firm Forbes Tate Partners as governors on its board. Greer and Brown are lobbyists for several pharmaceutical companies, including <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/16746300-916d-4c6d-9c22-0551885abdf0/print/">Bayer</a>, <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/65eda5b8-f28a-442f-8b9a-a6b85268a3c4/print/">Gilead Sciences</a>, <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/f780e4f3-540e-4001-ba97-5f11516ffdb9/print/">Eli Lilly</a>, <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/4a13743e-d38a-4a7b-abfe-0a4c939d73cb/print/">Novartis</a>, <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/16746300-916d-4c6d-9c22-0551885abdf0/print/">Amgen</a>, and <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/776eae36-0434-4205-980b-9a3259a23910/print/">Merck &amp; Co</a>, according to documents obtained by <a href="https://www.dailyposter.com/sinema-threat-followed-boost-from-pharma-group/">the Daily Poster</a> and reviewed by Insider. Greer and Brown did not respond to inquiries about the scope of their involvement in the Sinema political ads. Center Forward Executive Director Cori Kramer Smith said that day-to-day activities, programming, and messaging do not fall under the board's responsibilities.Merck was the second-highest pharmaceutical industry contributor to Sinema's campaign, donating $20,500 to her campaign committee and leadership PAC between 2015 and 2020, according to Kaiser Health News' <a href="https://khn.org/news/campaign/">"Pharma Cash to Congress" tracker</a>.Eli Joseph, the husband of Sinema's chief of staff, Meg Joseph, worked as the executive director of federal policy and government relations for Merck &amp; Co. from 2012-2015, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eli-joseph-a9151754/">according to his LinkedIn</a>. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-joseph-312808b8/">Meg Joseph's LinkedIn</a> also shows that she worked as a lobbyist from 2007-2008 at <a href="https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/search/?registrant=&amp;registrant_country=&amp;registrant_ppb_country=&amp;client=&amp;client_state=&amp;client_country=&amp;client_ppb_country=&amp;lobbyist=Margaret+Joseph&amp;lobbyist_covered_position=&amp;lobbyist_conviction_disclosure=&amp;lobbyist_conviction_date_range_from=&amp;lobbyist_conviction_date_range_to=&amp;report_period=&amp;report_year=&amp;report_dt_posted_from=&amp;report_dt_posted_to=&amp;report_amount_reported_min=&amp;report_amount_reported_max=&amp;report_issue_area_description=&amp;affiliated_organization=&amp;affiliated_organization_country=&amp;foreign_entity=&amp;foreign_entity_country=&amp;foreign_entity_ppb_country=&amp;foreign_entity_ownership_percentage_min=&amp;foreign_entity_ownership_percentage_max=&amp;search=search#js_searchFormTitleership_percentage_min=&amp;foreign_entity_ownership_percentage_max=&amp;search=search#js_searchFormTitle">Clark &amp; Weinstock</a>, which lobbied on behalf of <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/firms/lobbyists?cycle=2007&amp;id=D0000224612461">several pharmaceutical companies</a> and major industry trade groups during her tenure, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/09/23/big-pharma-firms-donated-750k-to-kyrsten-sinema--then-she-opposed-bill/">Salon reported</a>. Neither of the Josephs responded to inquiries about their previous work as lobbyists or connections to the pharmaceutical industry. Merck spokesperson John Cummins said Eli Joseph handled Senate affairs and was not involved in decisions surrounding House contributions. In addition to Sinema, four House Democrats are also opposed to direct government negotiation of drug prices. Reps. Scott Peters, Kurt Schrader, Stephanie Murphy, and Kathleen Rice voted against advancing a drug-pricing provision on September 15, although it would be approved later in the day by the Ways and Means Committee, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-09-15/democrats-struggle-for-consensus-on-prescription-drugs-medicare-and-aca">the Los Angeles Times reported</a>.

Kyrsten Sinema takes thousands in campaign contributions from pharmaceutical giants while stalling prescription drug pricing reforms

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="2540" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="president" source="Orion">President</keyword> Joe <keyword id="60973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden" source="Orion">Biden</keyword> said Republican efforts to block an increase of the debt ceiling would be "irresponsible."</li><li>Congress has about two weeks to raise or suspend the debt ceiling to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-debt-ceiling-explained-democrats-republicans-government-spending-borrowing-2021-9">avert what could be a catastrophic hit to the economy.</a></li><li>Biden also said he was confident he could get his economic agenda passed after a week of squabbles over its size and scope.</li></ul>President Joe Biden said on Saturday that Republican efforts to block the US' ability to pay its bills on time would be "unconscionable."Congress has about two weeks to raise or suspend the debt ceiling to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-debt-ceiling-explained-democrats-republicans-government-spending-borrowing-2021-9">avert what could be a catastrophic hit to the economy,</a> ranging from delays in Social Security checks to seniors, turmoil in financial markets, cuts to safety net programs, and even a spike in interest rates. <keyword id="11899267" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="republicans" source="Orion">Republicans</keyword>, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have signaled they could try to block the effort to lift the debt ceiling and torpedo Biden's economic goals. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcconnell-blocks-democrats-attempt-to-raise-debt-ceiling-2021-9">McConnell has remained adamant</a> that raising the debt limit is something only <keyword id="11896865" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="democrats" source="Orion">Democrats</keyword> must do. The US has never before defaulted on its debts."I hope that Republicans won't be so irresponsible as to refuse to raise the debt limit and to filibuster," Biden told reporters on Saturday. "That would be totally unconscionable. That's never been done before."Raising the debt ceiling allows the US government to pay back what it owes, and the limit had to be lifted this year regardless of Biden's spending plans. Democrats are pressing Republicans to help raise it, arguing another $7.8 trillion in debt was racked up under President Donald Trump. Republicans also raised or suspended the debt limit three times under the Trump administration.Democrats' best bet for lifting the debt ceiling on their own is reconciliation, an arduous, time-consuming procedure governed by <a href="https://budget.house.gov/publications/fact-sheet/budget-reconciliation-basics">strict budgetary rules</a>. It also allows certain bills to be passed with just a 50-vote majority.Biden said on Saturday that "everybody is frustrated" following a week of setbacks and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-economy-agenda-collapse-worst-case-scenario-midterms-democrats-disarray-2021-9">squabbles over the debt limit and his economic agenda,</a> but he added that he's confident both an infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion <keyword id="12230800" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="social-spending" source="Orion">social spending</keyword> bill will ultimately be passed by Congress.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/debt-ceiling-reconciliation-republicans-maximum-pain-democrats-amendments-government-default-2021-9">Democrats need to keep the government funded</a> while also keeping their promises to pass a $550 billion investment in US roads, bridges, and railroads as well as funding for childcare, healthcare, and fighting climate change. Two moderate Democratic senators are uneasy with the magnitude of the proposed changes and want the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-in-democrats-35-trillion-infrastructure-economic-plan-2021-9">$3.5 trillion social spending bill</a> to be trimmed.Biden said he is "going to work like hell to make sure we get both these passed," adding that both plans have the support of a majority of Americans."There's nothing in any of these pieces of legislation that's radical, that is unreasonable," he said, adding he would travel the country to win more support for both bills. "I believe I can get this done."

Biden slams 'irresponsible' Republican effort to block an increase to the debt limit, potentially pushing the US to an unprecedented and catastrophic default

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="60973" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Biden">Biden</keyword> met with a group of <keyword id="1636655" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="bipartisan">bipartisan</keyword> lawmakers Monday to discuss his $2 trillion <keyword id="1201214" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Infrastructure-Bill">infrastructure bill</keyword>.</li><li>He told reporters before the meeting that he was "prepared to compromise" on the legislation.</li><li>The GOP has argued much of the spending is directed toward nontraditional infrastructure. </li></ul><keyword id="1533678" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="President-Joe-Biden">President Joe Biden</keyword> told a bipartisan group of lawmakers Monday that he's "prepared to compromise" on his administration's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-bidens-2-trillion-infrastructure-plan-means-for-you-2021-4">$2 trillion nontraditional infrastructure plan.</a>Ahead of a White House meeting with both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj731Hf5PKk">the president told reporters</a> he's willing to compromise on both what's included in the package as well as how to pay for the landmark piece of legislation.Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with the bipartisan group of lawmakers, all of whom have previously served as mayor or governor, in an effort to garner support for the American Jobs Plan that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-infrastructure-plan-republican-response-socialism-soviet-style-scalise-2021-4">Republicans have rebuked </a>since it was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-2-trillion-infrastructure-plan-roads-bridges-broadband-power-2021-3">announced last month.</a>Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a Democrat, told ABC News reporter Trish Turner in a pool report that the meeting was "just an initial discussion," though she said she thought it was a "good discussion" and was impressed with what lawmakers in the room had to say and how Biden responded. Shaheen said the group discussed possible options for <a href="http://www.districtpolicygroup.com/dewonkify-detail/dewonkify-offset">"pay-fors,"</a> or offset savings found from other government programs, to pay for the proposed legislation."We talked about an infrastructure bank, we talked about bonding, we talked about user fees. A whole range of things," Shaheen told Turner following the meeting. When asked if Biden seemed committed to a bipartisan bill even if it's smaller, Shaheen said, "he seemed open to discussing a whole range of things." The administration has indicated it's more open to negotiation on the infrastructure bill than it was on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stimulus-biden-signs-trillion-covid-relief-package-checks-direct-payments-2021-3">Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill</a> passed earlier this year, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-biden-says-hes-prepared-to-compromise-on-infrastructure">according to PBS News</a>, though the White House has also signaled that the president is willing to forgo bipartisanship if doing so proves necessary to pass the legislation. The president's openness to cooperation with the GOP could put Republicans in a difficult position if they refuse to compromise on the nontraditional elements of the bill that are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/poll-americans-support-bidens-nontraditional-infrastructure-plan-cnbc-survey-2021-4">popular among American voters.</a>Republicans have condemned the bill primarily due to its inclusion of items that aren't physical or traditional infrastructure, like support for home health care workers, strengthening broadband and water services, and clean energy tax credits. The GOP has falsely claimed that only 6% of the bill's spending goes to rebuilding roads and bridges, though a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-traditional-infrastructure-bofa-republicans-roads-bridges-plan-package-bill-2021-4">Bank of America team calculated the real number is closer to half.</a>Following the meeting, Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1384301302864220163">tweeted</a> a photo of himself and fellow lawmakers discussing the bill in the Oval Office. "I'm confident that together, we'll be able to rebuild our nation's infrastructure," Biden tweeted.

Biden says he's 'prepared to compromise' on infrastructure plan during meeting with bipartisan group of lawmakers

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="60973" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Biden">Biden</keyword> unveiled the first part of his $4 trillion infrastructure plan on Wednesday.</li><li>McConnell said the $2 trillion plan focuses on things he doesn't consider infrastructure and pushes a liberal agenda.</li><li>While the GOP says Biden's plan does too much, progressives say it doesn't do enough.</li></ul>President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-2-trillion-infrastructure-plan-roads-bridges-broadband-power-2021-3">unveiled</a> the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-in-bidens-infrastructure-bill-package-american-jobs-plan-2021-3">first part</a> of his $4 trillion infrastructure plan on Wednesday, and it contained funding for not only roads and bridges, but for investments in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-bidens-infrastructure-plan-will-electrify-roads-technology-overhaul-2021-3">technology such as electric vehicles</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-bidens-infrastructure-plan-helps-americas-workforce-400-billion-2021-3">labor and workforce development</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-infrastructure-homes-schools-building-upgrading-spending-plan-economic-recovery-2021-3">housing and education</a>, and more. Calling it "a major missed opportunity," Senate Minority Leader <keyword id="192852" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mitch-McConnell">Mitch McConnell</keyword> said the bill focuses less on physical infrastructure and more on catering to Democrats' agendas. On Wednesday, while some lawmakers lauded Biden's proposal to confront big issues facing the country, like <keyword id="6361617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change">climate change</keyword> and racial inequality, McConnell released a statement saying that less than 6% of the plan goes to roads and bridges, and more money is allocated to electric vehicles than roads, bridges, ports, airports, and waterways, combined. "It contains sweeping far-left priorities like attacking blue-collar Americans' Right to Work protections, a huge favor to Big Labor bosses," McConnell said. "Every time that far-left dogma clashes with the interests of American families, today's Democrats pick the dogma."McConnell also criticized Biden's proposed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-infrastructure-bill-package-4-trillion-with-tax-hikes-2021-3">$3.5 trillion tax hike</a> to fund the infrastructure plan and said infrastructure was being used as a "Trojan horse for the largest set of <keyword id="494122" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="tax-hikes">tax hikes</keyword> in a generation."The tax hike proposed by Biden would be entirely levied against corporations, and partially reverses the Trump-era 2017 tax cut that reduced the rate from 35% to 21%, bringing it up to 28%. Biden said on Wednesday that the corporate tax rate would still be lower it was "between World War Two and 2017. Just doing that one thing will generate $1 trillion in additional revenue over 15 years." <h2>Republicans want to go smaller, progressives want to go bigger</h2>McConnell's critiques of the infrastructure plan are not new to his party. Even before the details of the plan were released, Republican lawmakers said they would not support a plan that focuses on elements beyond repairing physical infrastructure, like investments with climate change in mind, which Biden has made a core component of his infrastructure proposal since his <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiducGJmt3vAhUAEVkFHXkJAwoQFjASegQIJBAD&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fjoebiden.com%2Fclean-energy%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw25oiOY4JuGnX7lkoNqYcSp%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw25oiOY4JuGnX7lkoNqYcSp">campaign</a>."Republicans won't support another Green New Deal disguising itself as a transportation bill," House Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves said in a <a href="https://republicans-transportation.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=405260">statement</a>.But while Republican lawmakers opposed Biden's infrastructure plans for doing too much, progressive lawmakers are saying it's not doing enough. On Wednesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, said that progressive <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/progressive-lawmakers-prefer-one-piece-infrastructure-package-not-bidens-2021-3">prefer a "single, ambitious"</a> infrastructure package, instead of Biden's two-part plan. "Given the president's fierce resolve in passing the overwhelmingly popular American Rescue Plan earlier this month, it makes little sense to narrow his previous ambition on infrastructure or compromise with the physical realities of climate change," Jayapal said.Biden reiterated in his Wednesday speech his hopes that Congress come together to rebuild the nation's infrastructure and strengthen the <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword>.He said thinks all Republicans in the House or Senate believe infrastructure improvements are needed. "They know China and other countries are eating our lunch. So there's no reason why it can't be bipartisan again. The divisions of the moment shouldn't stop us from doing the right thing for the future."

You Searched For "infrasrtucture" and got 6 results

Money to build new roads and bridges under Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure project is 'evaporating' because of inflation

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Political potholes await Buttigieg as he starts a new year implementing Biden's infrastructure law

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Kyrsten Sinema takes thousands in campaign contributions from pharmaceutical giants while stalling prescription drug pricing reforms

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Biden slams 'irresponsible' Republican effort to block an increase to the debt limit, potentially pushing the US to an unprecedented and catastrophic default

Victoria Cavaliere

Biden says he's 'prepared to compromise' on infrastructure plan during meeting with bipartisan group of lawmakers

Erin Snodgrass

Mitch McConnell slams Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan as 'a major missed opportunity'

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