Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said on Sunday that he will not vote to open debate on a bipartisan infrastructure bill until he sees the legislation.
“How can I vote for cloture when the bill isn’t written?” Cassidy asked host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.” “Unless you want program failure, unless [Senate Majority leader Charles] Schumer [D-N.Y.] doesn’t want this to happen, you need a little bit more time to get it right.”
“It can absolutely happen,” Cassidy said, “if we get the pay-fors, we can pass this.”
His comments come after Schumer said last week the Senate will vote to open debate on the bipartisan infrastructure deal on Wednesday, setting up a key test vote.
Schumer will file cloture on a shell bill that senators will later swap the bipartisan legislation into. The bill will need 60 votes to get over Wednesday’s initial hurdle. If every Democrat votes to advance it, something that isn’t certain, Democrats would need at least 10 GOP votes to advance the legislation.
Wednesday is also the deadline Schumer has set for Democrats to be ready to “move forward” on a separate budget resolution that tees up $3.5 trillion in spending.
“You know, all I can do is do what is right and it’s right,” Cassidy said on Sunday, referring to a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package proposal from a bipartisan group of senators.
“The $1.2 trillion is good for the United States of America. it would be bipartisan, representing the interests of all 50 states, not just those represented by Democrats, it actually addresses pent up demand for roads and bridges of my state, across the nation, and other things important,” Cassidy told Wallace.
“Now the 3.5 trillion, if they want to go there on a straight party line vote, fueling…..inflation, making people more dependent upon the government. They’re gonna address that. I’m just trying to take care of the infrastructure that our country needs that my state needs.”