Washington — President Biden is set to sign the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law on Monday, flanked by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to mark the culmination of months of negotiations to revitalize the nation’s roads, bridges, waterways and physical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is expected to release more data on Mr. Biden’s second signature piece of legislation, the Build Back Better Act, which faces an uncertain future in Congress.
The White House said lawmakers, governors, mayors, and business and union leaders will be attending the signing ceremony, scheduled for 3 p.m. on the South Lawn of the White House. A spokesperson for Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, one of the moderate Democratic negotiators of both bills, said she will be in attendance. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week he will not be attending.
The infrastructure bill, formally known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, includes $550 billion in new spending on the nation’s physical infrastructure and has been praised by Mr. Biden as the largest investment in roads, bridges, ports, water and rail in decades. The measure provides $110 billion for roads, bridges and major projects, $39 billion for public transit and $66 billion for railways. It also provides $65 billion to expand broadband infrastructure and $55 billion for clear water investments.
The White House announced on Sunday that former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu will be the senior adviser responsible for coordinating the implementation of the bill.
But looming over the bill signing is the forecast from the CBO on the Build Back Better Act, Mr. Biden’s $1.75 trillion social spending and climate plan. While Democratic leaders and progressives had hoped to vote on the social spending package and the infrastructure bill together, the plan fell apart when moderates said they wanted to wait for the CBO score before voting. The CBO score is necessary before any Senate vote on Build Back Better due to budget reconciliation rules.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told colleagues on Sunday that she expects the CBO to release data on the portions of the bill written by three more committees on Monday.
Democrats will only need a simple majority to pass Build Back Better in the Senate, but since no Republicans are expected to support it, all 50 Democrats will need to vote for it.
