Biden proposes $1.7 trillion infrastructure counteroffer to GOP

The White House has proposed a $1.7 trillion counteroffer on infrastructure to Senate Republicans, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday, a significant decrease from President Biden's initial $2.3 trillion proposal, made "in the spirit of finding common ground." But the counteroffer didn't go over well with GOP Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the key Senate Republican leading negotiations.Psaki announced the new offer while the White House is continuing to negotiate with a group of Republican senators led by Capito. While they don't want to raise corporate taxes, they have not come up with an alternative method for paying for an infrastructure bill, although some have suggested using unspent funds from previous coronavirus relief packages.In the text of the memo outlining the counteroffer sent to Senate Republicans, obtained by CBS News, the White House said that Mr. Biden "fundamentally disagrees with the approach of increasing the burden on working people through increased gas taxes and user fees, regardless of where users live or the type of vehicles they drive.""As you know, he made a commitment to the American people not to raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 per year, and he intends to honor that commitment," the memo said.Although Mr. Biden has said that working with Republicans on a bipartisan basis is important to him, he has also said that "inaction is not an option" — hinting that if a deal is not reached, then Democrats may try to go it alone in passing the legislation."We will not be open to doing nothing," Mr. Biden said in an event in April promoting the American Jobs Plan, his initial $2.3 trillion proposal.Some Democrats are frustrated at the willingness of the White House to make concessions to Republicans.