Biden signs $1T infrastructure bill with bipartisan audience
President Joe Biden has signed his $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law on the White House lawn, with a smattering of Republican lawmakers on hand for what could be one of the last shows of bipartisanship ahead of the 2022 midterm elections
November 15, 2021, 9:36 PM
8 min read
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleFILE - Motorist traveling southbound on Interstates 90 and 94 for Indiana approach the intersection with Interstate 55 for St. Louis, Dec. 21, 2017, in Chicago. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signs into law on Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, represents a historic achievement at a time of deeply fractured politics. But the compromises needed to bridge the political divide suggest that the spending might not be as transformative as Biden has promised for the U.S. economy. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden signed his $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law Monday on the White House lawn, hailing it as an example of what bipartisanship can achieve.
The president hopes to use the law to build back his popularity and says it will deliver jobs, clean water, high-speed internet and a clean energy future. Support for Biden has taken a hit amid rising inflation and the inability to fully shake the public health and economic risks from COVID-19.
A smattering of Republican lawmakers were on hand for what might be one the last celebratory displays of bipartisanship ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
“My message to the American people is this: America is moving again and your life is going to change for the better,” Biden said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed his $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law Monday on the White House lawn, with a smattering of Republican lawmakers on hand for what could be one of the last shows of bipartisanship ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
The president hopes to use the law to build back his popularity, which has taken a hit amid rising inflation and the inability to fully shake the public health and economic risks from COVID-19.
“My message to the American people is this: America is moving again and your life is going to change for the better,” Biden said.
With the bipartisan deal, the president had to choose between his promise of fostering national unity and a commitment to transformative change. The final measure whittled down much of his initial vision to invest in roads, bridges, water systems, broadband, ports, electric vehicles and the power grid. Yet the administration hopes to sell the new law as a success that bridged partisan divides and will elevate the country with clean drinking water, high-speed internet and a shift away from fossil fuels.
“Too often in Washington – the reason we don’t get things done is because we insist on getting everything we want,” Biden said in his prepared remarks. “With this law, we focused on getting things done. I ran for president because the only way to move our country forward is through compromise and consensus.”
Biden will get outside Washington to sell the plan more broadly in coming days.
He intends go to New Hampshire on Tuesday to visit a bridge on the state’s “red list” for repair, and he will go to Detroit on Wednesday for a stop at General Motors’ electric vehicle assembly plant, while other officials also fan out across the country. The president went to the Port of Baltimore last week to highlight how the supply chain investments from the law could limit inflation and strengthen supply chains, a key concern of voters who are dealing with higher prices.
“We see this as is an opportunity because we know that the president’s agenda is quite popular,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday before the signing. The outreach to voters can move "beyond the legislative process to talk about how this is going to help them. And we’re hoping that’s going to have an impact.”
