Amid a harshly divided Congress infamous for partisan gridlock, President Joe Biden's administration celebrated a major victory on Wednesday after 17 Senate Republicans joined every Senate Democrat to advance the bipartisan infrastructure bill the White House has been negotiating with Republicans for months.
Former President Donald Trump was none too pleased that the bill, which allocates billions to repair the country's crumbling roads and bridges, had advanced. Just hours before the vote, he issued a statement warning he'd endorse the primary opponents of any Senate Republican who joined Democrats in voting to advance it. After 17 Republicans did just that, Trump railed against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as the so-called RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) who helped it to advance.
Meanwhile, Biden issued a three word tweet to celebrate the step forward.
It\u2019s infrastructure week.https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1420459475920691209\u00a0\u2026— President Biden (@President Biden) 1627503120
Without context, the tweet may seem innocuous, but it's actually a subtle dig at Trump.
During his first year in office, Trump announced "Infrastructure Week"—a seven day effort to reach a bipartisan agreement on legislation to revitalize American infrastructure. This first effort was upended when Trump accused former FBI Director James Comey of lying to Congress, lurching the White House off message.
For the next two years, "Infrastructure Week" would be touted by the White House with no results, leading the term to signal what the New York Times called a "'Groundhog Day'-style fever dream doomed to be repeated."
The effort failed for the final time in 2019, when Trump said he would pursue no legislation while under investigation by the Democratic-led House of Representatives.
Social media got a kick out of Biden's tweet.
Nothing feels as good on a hot summer day as a little cool shade...https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026— David Rothkopf (@David Rothkopf) 1627503319
FOLKS.https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026— Chris Strider (@Chris Strider) 1627503233
I am here for it! https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/U4Q41yQL5M— Miki Britton (@Miki Britton) 1627573683
This team is much better at Twitter than I expectedhttps://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026— Josh Heggen (@Josh Heggen) 1627505432
It's really hot in Southern California right now, so I'm really enjoying this shade.https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026— Cary Brown (@Cary Brown) 1627570188
I love that they\u2019re going there :)https://twitter.com/potus/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026— DiscoPriest (@DiscoPriest) 1627505816
Others celebrated the victory.
It\u2019s been a long time coming, but it\u2019s here: a historic investment in clean energy infrastructure that will create thousands and thousands of good-paying, union jobs while finally addressing the legacy pollution in some of our most vulnerable communities.https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026— Secretary Deb Haaland (@Secretary Deb Haaland) 1627510247
In other words, Biden giving a Virtuoso lesson in negotiations & getting Rs on board w/o fanfare or boasting. Important though, that we follow up with the parts left out, like childcare, and pass voting rights!https://twitter.com/potus/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026— Juli Briskman (@Juli Briskman) 1627566765
What a relief that we finally made it to infrastructure week. Thank you for prioritizing this, President @JoeBiden.https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1420477157265100807\u00a0\u2026— Michigan Democrats (@Michigan Democrats) 1627569919
There are still hurdles to overcome—the bill must pass the Senate with at least 51 votes, and then the House. In addition, a pricier "soft infrastructure" bill, which Democrats plan to pass with reconciliation, must earn the support of both centrist and leftist Democrats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said—with the White House in agreement—that the House will not consider the bipartisan infrastructure bill without the promise of the soft infrastructure bill.
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