Republicans in the US Senate blocked Joe Biden’s $1tn bipartisan infrastructure package as it faced its first vote in the upper chamber of Congress, in a setback for the president and his fellow Democrats.
The defeat of the plan in a procedural vote to advance the legislation on Wednesday does not mean that its chances are doomed, since centrist lawmakers from both parties have vowed to keep negotiating over the coming days.
However, it highlights the difficulty Biden faces in his quest to secure congressional approval for an ambitious multitrillion-dollar economic agenda. It also increases the likelihood that the president will have to enact his ambitious tax-and-spending plans solely with Democratic support.