Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images
- McConnell took a dour view on the likelihood of a bipartisan Senate group succeeding with an infrastructure bill.
- He told a conservative radio host that its odds were "maybe 50-50."
- Pelosi signaled she's unwilling to strike a deal with Republicans if it meant substantially cutting the package.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell provided a downbeat view on the latest roughly $1 trillion infrastructure framework negotiated by a faction of centrist senators from both parties.
The plan would provide just over $1 trillion in new infrastructure spending focused on roads, bridges, ports, and highways.
"Maybe 50-50," the Kentucky Republican said in a Monday interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. "Look, both sides would like to get an infrastructure bill."
McConnell reiterated the by now familiar "red lines" for Senate Republicans: no modifications to the 2017 Republican tax law that would result in tax increases, and that any package should be paid for.
He suggested repurposing stimulus aid to states provided under President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law to cover the cost. That's already been shot down by the White House in previous negotiations with Senate Republicans.
"States and localities are literally awash in extra money. A lot of that is still in the pipeline," McConnell said. "Why don't we repurpose that, earmark it for infrastructure, which both localities would prefer to spend it on anyway?"
The bipartisan group encompasses 10 lawmakers from both parties and includes Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Rob Portman of Ohio, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine.
On the Democratic side, it includes Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Mark Warner of Virginia, and Jon Tester of Montana.
The framework is unlikely to contain the aggressive climate measures that many Democrats favor, which is a nonstarter among a growing group of Democratic senators. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also appears to be against dropping climate initiatives if it means passing a watered-down bill with the GOP.
"I have no intention of abandoning the rest of my vision," Pelosi told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, adding the proposed measures "could have been talked about 50 years ago."