WASHINGTON — With at least 10 Republicans committed to coming to the table, President Joe Biden is eyeing a pathway for passage of his infrastructure plan, albeit scaled down. Pres. Biden is expected to meet with a group of Republican and Democratic senators this week, to see if they can hammer out a bipartisan agreement on an infrastructure plan.

What You Need To Know

  • 21 Democratic and Republican senators reached an agreement on an infrastructure deal

  • Pres. Joe Biden is planning to meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers this week

  • Pres. Biden says he will not support plans to raise taxes for people making less than $400,000 a year to pay for the bill

But major disagreements on how to fund massive investments in highways, bridges and more pose a potential roadblock.

"But certainly he's encouraged by the fact that the number has increased,” said Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary. “The investments have increased, has some questions about the pay-fors, which I've noted, and has a red line about the gas tax and raising taxes on individuals making less than $400,000 a year.”

Both sides are expecting negotiations to go so far. While Republicans are adamant about limiting the definition of infrastructure, Democrats are pursuing a procedural workaround to include the rest of the president’s agenda.

“I knew that there would be large aspects of the American Jobs Plan that we would be able to do on a bipartisan basis,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin. “But if we want to finish the job, and really make this once in a lifetime commitment, we might also have to use what's known as budget reconciliation to finish the job.”

That process, requiring just a simple majority in the Senate, was already used once this year for the passage of the President’s COVID relief bill, the American Rescue Plan.

“It's basically designed to pass tough stuff that you can't pass with 60 votes in the Senate, which is to say, and it was designed to reduce the deficit,” said Prof. Thomas Kahn, American University. “That means that it was designed to raise taxes, or cut spending, or both.”

There are a few roadblocks down this path. The scope of how it’s supposed to be used is limited which is why it’s only really tapped once a session. And every Democratic senator would need to be on board.

“The other challenge is going to be getting Senators Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona and Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia — sort of the two loose links — to agree to essentially promise that if the bipartisan process goes forward, that they will then go along with reconciliation in the next bill,” added Kahn.

Sen. Baldwin, however, believes they can be persuaded considering they were in lockstep for the COVID relief vote.

“I see this in very similar terms that we have to stick together in order to get this through,” Baldwin said. “But, we are talking about the sort of investment in our infrastructure and our workers to really help them get ahead, and to put us on a path to remaining the leading economy in the world for the balance of the 21st century.”