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Joe Biden has issued a statement praising the bipartisan infrastructure bill, just hours before the Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on the legislation.

The president described the bill as “the most significant long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century”.

“This deal signals to the world that our democracy can function, deliver, and do big things,” Biden said. “As we did with the transcontinental railroad and the interstate highway, we will once again transform America and propel us into the future.”

Biden acknowledged that “neither side got everything they wanted in this deal,” but the president argued such compromise is “the heart of democracy”.

“As the deal goes to the entire Senate, there is still plenty of work ahead to bring this home. There will be disagreements to resolve and more compromise to forge along the way,” Biden said.

“But the bottom line is—the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America that will help make our historic economic recovery a historic long-term boom.”

The White House has released a fact sheet with more details on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which the Senate will hold a procedural vote on tonight.

The legislation includes $550bn in new federal investment for infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges and rail.

According to the fact sheet, the bipartisan bill will invest $110bn of new funds in roads, bridges and major projects, as well as $39bn for modernizing public transit systems.

The legislation also includes $66bn to modernize and expand rail service in the US, while addressing Amtrak’s long backlog of maintenance issues.

The fact sheet describes this rail funding as “the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak 50 years ago,” which is likely a particular point of pride for “Amtrak Joe”.

The White House’s full description of the bill can be read here.

It’s important to remember that Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema said she will at least support the upcoming procedural motion on the reconciliation bill.

Sinema’s latest comments specifically criticized the $3.5tn price tag of the “human infrastructure” bill, but it will likely take months to finalize the exact text of the legislation.

“While I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion — and in the coming months, I will work in good faith to develop this legislation with my colleagues and the administration to strengthen Arizona’s economy and help Arizona’s everyday families get ahead,” Sinema said in her statement.

It is still possible that Sinema will support the final version of the reconciliation bill if it costs less than $3.5tn, but the Arizona senator’s statement will still likely irk progressive lawmakers, who already considered that price tag to be a compromise. (Senator Bernie Sanders had initially proposed spending $6tn on the reconciliation bill.)

Make that two House progressives who have indicated they will not support the bipartisan infrastructure bill without assurances about the separate reconciliation bill.

“Without a reconciliation package that meets this moment, I’m a no on this bipartisan deal,” Mondaire Jones, the progressive congressman who represents parts of the Bronx.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also warned Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema that the bipartisan bill she helped negotiate could be in trouble in the House, after Sinema said she does not support the $3.5tn price tag of the reconciliation bill.

The Senate is expected to vote tonight on a motion to proceed on the bipartisan bill. Stay tuned.

There are already signs of trouble for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, after one of the legislation’s lead Democratic negotiators indicated some concerns about the separate reconciliation bill.

Progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema after she said she does not support the $3.5tn price tag of the reconciliation bill, which would fund many of Joe Biden’s infrastructure initiatives not covered in the bipartisan proposal.

“Good luck tanking your own party’s investment on childcare, climate action, and infrastructure while presuming you’ll survive a 3 vote House margin – especially after choosing to exclude members of color from negotiations and calling that a ‘bipartisan accomplishment,’” Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter.

It is true that Democrats have an extremely narrow margin in the House, which could create hurdles for the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill if progressives oppose the proposal.

However, if some Republicans supported the bipartisan bill, it may still pass the House, even if progressives voted against it. It all depends on the exact numbers on each side of the aisle.

The Senate will hold a procedural vote tonight to start debate on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, majority leader Chuck Schumer has just confirmed.

“I’ve said for weeks that we intend to do two things in July: one, a bipartisan infrastructure bill and two, a budget resolution with reconciliation instructions. We are on track to do both,” Schumer said.

“Tonight, I am intending to call a vote to move to proceed to the bipartisan infrastructure bill. I believe we have the votes for that. And we will then proceed to do amendments and go forward on that bill.”

Schumer insisted that the reconciliation bill is “in very good shape” and both proposals are moving along as expected.

After issuing his prepared statement, the majority leader left without answering any of the shouted questions about Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema’s latest comments saying she does not support the $3.5tn price tag of the reconciliation bill.

It remains unclear whether any Senate Democrats will vote against advancing the bipartisan bill tonight in light of Sinema’s latest comments.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a moderate Democrat from Arizona, has said that she does not support the price tag of Democrats’ $3.5tn reconciliation bill, which would fund many of Joe Biden’s “human infrastructure” proposals.

Sinema told the Arizona Republic that, while she supports the goals of the spending package, she has concerns about the plan’s overall cost.

“I have also made clear that while I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion — and in the coming months, I will work in good faith to develop this legislation with my colleagues and the administration to strengthen Arizona’s economy and help Arizona’s everyday families get ahead,” Sinema said.

The news comes just hours before the Senate is expected to vote on advancing the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which Sinema helped negotiate.

Sinema’s latest comments could cause tensions within the Senate Democratic caucus. Some Senate progressives have indicated they will vote in favor of the bipartisan bill only if their moderate colleagues help them pass the reconciliation package.

A Washington Post reporter heard that from one Democratic senator just this morning:

Joe Biden promised to work with members of both parties to ensure the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, after a Republican senator announced the negotiating group had reached a deal.

“You may have heard that, in Washington now, just on the phone, looks like they’ve reached a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure,” Biden said in his speech on manufacturing in Pennsylvania.

“And I’m working with Democrats and Republicans to get this done because while there’s a lot we don’t agree on, I believe that we should be able to work together on the few things we do agree on. I think it’s important.”

Republican senator Rob Portman, one of the lead negotiators in the bipartisan infrastructure talks, said this morning that the group had reached an agreement on “major issues” with their legislation.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has said that the upper chamber may hold a procedural vote to advance the bipartisan bill as early as tonight.

In his manufacturing speech, Biden also made a pitch for Democrats’ $3.5tn reconciliation bill, which would fund many of the president’s other infrastructure initiatives, but it’s unclear when or if the Senate will be able to advance that proposal.

Joe Biden is now delivering a speech on American manufacturing at the Mack – Lehigh Valley Operations (LVO) manufacturing facility in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania.

Before launching into his prepared remarks, the president issued another plea with unvaccinated Americans to get their shot as quickly as possible.

“We still have a lot of people not vaccinated. The pandemic we have now is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Biden said.

“So please — please, please, please — if you’re not vaccinated, protect yourself and the children out there. It’s important.”

The president is scheduled to deliver a speech on his administration’s vaccination efforts tomorrow, and he is expected to announce a vaccine mandate for federal workers.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The bipartisan group involved in infrastructure negotiations has reached “an agreement on the major issues” with their bill, Republican senator Rob Portman told reporters on Capitol Hill. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said the upper chamber may vote to proceed on the bipartisan bill as early as tonight.
• Joe Biden is expected to announce a coronavirus vaccine mandate for federal employees, according to a CNN report. The president previewed the potential mandate yesterday, telling reporters, “That’s under consideration right now, but if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not really as smart as I thought you were.” Biden is scheduled to deliver a speech on vaccination efforts tomorrow.
• Republicans lashed out against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated mask guidance, even as coronavirus cases rise in the US. After the CDC urged vaccinated people to wear masks indoors if they live in regions with high levels of coronavirus spread, the Capitol physician said House members would be required to wear masks while indoors. In response, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said on Twitter that the new guidance was “not a decision based on science”. Asked about McCarthy’s comments, House speaker Nancy Pelosi called him a “moron”.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Asked about the potential bipartisan infrastructure deal, Nancy Pelosi would not yet commit to ensuring the legislation passes the House.

“The point is, we have to see it. Have you seen it?” Pelosi asked reporters. “You’re asking me to commit to something that none of us have seen.

The House speaker added, “We’re rooting for it. We’re hoping for the best. … We very much want it to pass.”

Republican senator Rob Portman, one of the lead negotiators in the bipartisan infrastructure talks, said today that the group had reached “an agreement on the major issues” with the bill.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has said the upper chamber may hold a procedural vote on the bipartisan bill as early as tonight.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi was pressed on her earlier comment that minority leader Kevin McCarthy was a “moron” for criticizing the House’s updated mask guidance.

“I said earlier in my comments, science, science, science and science. On almost every subject that you can name, science is the answer,” Pelosi said at her weekly press conference.

“To say that wearing a mask is not based on science, I think, is not wise, and that was my comment. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.”

The Democratic speaker went on to accuse Republicans of being “delinquent in embracing the science that people need to be vaccinated”.

“People have known for a long time that we need to, we need to do the vaccinations,” Pelosi said.

In response to the news that Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell will be airing a radio ad in his home state of Kentucky to encourage people to get vaccinated, Pelosi said such efforts are “long overdue but always welcome”.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine has more details on the justice department’s guidance regarding post-election “audits”:

The Wednesday guidance, which uses quotation marks around the word “audit,” will not halt the audits in Arizona or elsewhere, but is designed to send a message that federal officials are watching closely.

“This sets down a marker and says the Justice Department is concerned about this and will be following this closely,” a DoJ official told reporters on a press call Wednesday morning. The official repeatedly declined to say whether there were other jurisdictions the department was monitoring.

A second piece of guidance issued Wednesday also outlines all of the federal laws that affect early, mail-in, and in person voting in the US. The guidance comes as state legislatures have passed a slew of laws restricting voting access.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has pledged to aggressively challenge those laws and the department has already filed a federal lawsuit challenging one such measure in Georgia.

The Justice Department’s voting section also has successfully double the amount of attorneys it has, fulfilling a commitment Garland made about a month ago, the DoJ official said. The official declined to say, however, how many attorneys were now working in the section.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:

The Justice Department sent a warning to states considering pushing post-election reviews of 2020 ballots on Wednesday, reminding them of federal laws that prohibit voter intimidation and require officials to maintain control of ballots.

The guidance comes amid an ongoing, months-long review, of 2020 ballots in Maricopa county, Arizona’s largest county. Republicans across the country, including in Pennsylvania and Michigan, have sought to replicate the effort, which experts widely panned, saying it is shoddy and rife with error-prone practices.

The company leading the Arizona effort has no prior experience in election audits and its CEO voiced support for the idea that the election was stolen from Donald Trump.

The Department’s announcement comes as Joe Biden faces increasing pressure from civil rights groups to be more aggressive in pushing for voting rights.

Even though Biden has spoken publicly about the need to pass sweeping federal voting legislation, he does not support getting rid of the filibuster, a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation.

The bipartisan group working to craft an infrastructure bill has reached an agreement on the outstanding issues over the legislation, Republican senator Rob Portman said.

“We now have an agreement on the major issues,” said Portman, who has been deeply involved in the negotiations.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said moments ago that the upper chamber may vote on a motion to procced on the bipartisan bill as early as tonight.

Stay tuned.