Partisan wrangling over a $1.2 billion infrastructure deal erupted into the open on Monday with fresh squabbles and former President Trump lobbing in his own grenade by urging Republicans to ditch the talks altogether.
The deadlock prompted Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to warn that further delays would mean the Senate staying in session into the August recess as he called on both sides to do something good for the American people.
'We have reached a critical moment,' he said.
'The bipartisan group of senators has had nearly five weeks of negotiations since they first announced an agreement with President Biden.
'It's time for everyone to get to "yes" and produce an outcome for the American people.'
He spoke on the Senate floor a day after Democrats and the White House presented a new offer to Republicans, which was aimed at addressing unresolved issues including water funding, broadband, and highways and bridges.
But the response was short and sharp after Democrats briefed that Sen. Mitt Romney, one of the negotiators, had reneged on a deal over water funding and lead contamination.
'This is laughably false,' Romney's office said in a statement.
'As the White House's own website shows, the deal on water was for $55 billion in new spending. After days of radio silence, Schumer now wants $70 billion. This is a direct violation of the bipartisan agreement.'
Time is running out for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to reach his goal of passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill before the August recess. Monday brought fresh gloom as tensions erupted into public and former President Trump urged Republicans to abandon talks
Former President Trump lobbed a grenade into the dispute, telling Republican senators they were being 'savaged' by Democrats and urging them to forget talks until after next year's mid-terms when they will have a better negotiating position
Trump condemned Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's handling of negotiations. 'Mitch McConnell and his small group of RINOs wants nothing more than to get a deal done at any cost to prove that he can work with the Radical Left Democrats,' he said
Winning bipartisan support for the infrastructure bill is critical to White House hopes of pushing through a bigger $3.5 billion spending package without Republican
