Former President Donald Trump left no words unspoken in his most direct attempt yet to tank President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure deal. The GOP frontman threatened “lots of primaries” ahead for any Republican lawmakers who cooperated with Democrats to urge the bipartisan deal passed. His statement was released after Senate legislator Mitch McConnell announced before the procedural choose the Senate on Wednesday that he would vote to advance the measure. Seventeen Republicans — including McConnell — joined all 50 Democrats to advance the bipartisan legislation, during a major test for the bill.
The vote came hours after a gaggle of 10 Republican and Democratic negotiators announced they struck a affect the White House for $550 billion in new spending — $30 billion but was included during a prior agreement. Trump, who floated plans for infrastructure spending throughout his presidency, has railed against negotiations in recent days, telling Republican lawmakers to skip the talks — not, it seems, due to any specific issues with the substance but because passage of a bill would be “a victory for the Biden administration and Democrats” and “heavily utilized in the 2022 election.” “Don’t roll in the hay Republicans — Patriots will never forget!” he wrote. “If this deal happens, many primaries are going to be coming your way.”
The former president has already endorsed primary challengers to undertake to unseat Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio. Despite his defeat at the box in November, Trump maintains massive power within the Republican Party and has been making a show of handing out endorsements — or rejections. last , however, on Tuesday, a Trump-backed candidate in Texas lost during a congressional special election. Wednesday’s vote to advance the bill within the Senate precedes a final vote on the legislation coming sometime within the next week or two. Democrats also are preparing a reconciliation package that would pass within the Senate without Republican support.
