The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to invest $1 trillion in the nation's infrastructure, including the electric grid and broadband access.
The 69-30 vote was bipartisan, following weeks of talks that included the White House and a group of Democratic and Republican negotiators. Nineteen Republicans joined the Democratic caucus to pass the legislation.
Former President Donald Trump had urged Republicans to vote against the bill, but even Trump ally Lindsey Graham of South Carolina voted for it in the end. Notably, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also voted in favor of the legislation.
One Republican, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, did not vote.
Here are the 19 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill:
- Roy Blunt, Missouri
- Richard Burr, North Carolina
- Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
- Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
- Susan Collins, Maine
- Kevin Cramer, North Dakota
- Mike Crapo, Idaho
- Deb Fischer, Nebraska
- Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
- Chuck Grassley, Iowa
- John Hoeven, North Dakota
- Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
- Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
- Rob Portman, Ohio
- James Risch, Idaho
- Mitt Romney, Utah
- Dan Sullivan, Alaska
- Thom Tillis, North Carolina
- Roger Wicker, Mississippi
See the full roll call of the vote here.
Republicans who opposed the bill cited its cost and said plans to offset that were not robust enough. The Congressional Budget Office found last week that the legislation could add $256 billion to the deficit over 10 years.
While President Biden praised the show of bipartisanship Tuesday afternoon, the bill is still a ways from his desk. Democrats in the House have tied the vote on infrastructure there to Senate passage of a budget measure that includes more of their party's priorities, like health care and child care.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
