Sen. Capito optimistic that ‘real compromise’ can be reached in infrastructure plan

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the lead GOP negotiator on President Biden’s infrastructure plan, said on Sunday that she believes Democrats and Republicans could still reach “real compromise” on the proposed spending plan.

While appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Capito was asked by host Shannon Bream if a deal could be reached, with the Fox News host noting the stark differences in the White House’s American Jobs Plan and the counteroffer that GOP lawmakers made this past week, which was about $1 trillion less.

“I think we can get to real compromise, absolutely, because we’re both still in the game,” Capito said. “I think — the president told me himself let’s get this done. We realize this is not easy. I think we bring every idea that’s on the table into the negotiations to see how we can achieve this and get it across the threshold.”

Bream also touched on the differing definitions of infrastructure between the White House and the GOP, noting that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had said earlier on the program that items like elder care and home repair should be included in the plan because they facilitate people’s ability to work.

“Well we disagree on the definition of infrastructure and we’ve been working with the president to bring it back to the physical core idea of infrastructure that we’ve worked so well on in the past,” Capito responded.

“Whether that’s roads and bridges, waterways ports, lead pipes, transit, airports, and also the new infrastructure which you know we must have everywhere, a broadband. Those are great categories I think that we can work together on,” Capito, who sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, added.

The West Virginia senator acknowledged the “human infrastructure, social infrastructure” items as “great things to talk about, things that we need to address,” but argued they simply were not part of physical infrastructure and would not help in modernizing the U.S. transportation system, which she said should be the priority.