Buttigieg: ‘We are within days, possibly within hours’ of infrastructure bill passing

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday expressed optimism that the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill will pass this week, saying it could move through the Senate “within days, possibly within hours.”

While appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Buttigieg was asked by guest host Bret Baier where he saw the infrastructure bill currently making its way through Senate procedure headed.

“Well, the state of play looks good. The Senate is working through this amendment process. There’s still a lot of procedure to be gotten through, but we are within days possibly, within hours of seeing this historic legislation that’s going to get us better roads and bridges better ports and airports, a better future for our economy and creating millions of jobs,” Buttigieg said.

The transportation secretary’s comments come as a standoff over the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill is poised to drag out the Senate’s debate for days.

The Senate voted earlier Saturday to get the bill over a key procedural hurdle. But senators are increasingly pessimistic about the chances of a quick agreement and wrapped up for the night without a breakthrough. They are expected to be back on Sunday.

Baier pressed Buttigieg on whether he believed the bill could stand on its own and should be voted on singularly, noting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will not bring it to a vote before the Senate votes on reconciliation.

“Again, these are two separate packages but they’re definitely both part of the president’s vision and at risk of sounding simplistic, I would encourage legislators to vote for policies they think are good and vote against the policies that they disagree with,” Buttigieg said.

Moderate Democrats pushed House leadership to allow a standalone vote on the infrastructure bill in a letter circulated on Saturday.

Baier pointed to concerns raised by critics of the bill regarding the potential to raise the national debt, noting that it had been an issue that Buttigieg spoke on during his presidential campaign. He asked if he believed Democrats were heeding his advice regarding the debt.

“Absolutely, and you can tell because the president put forward a way for this to be fully paid for, from day one when the American jobs plan was released,” Buttigieg said. “And the pay-fors that are in this bill are appropriate for a bill that’s going to grow the economy and grow U.S. productivity.”

“Look, you don’t see the number of conservative Republicans supporting this bill that you do unless it’s fiscally responsible and I would also again point to the cost of doing nothing,” he added.