Negotiators struggle to finish infrastructure deal with clock ticking | TheHill

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated it would generate about $180 billion in savings.But the White House is resisting the idea of using the Medicare rebate rule as a pay-for because Democrats are planning to use it to help cover the cost of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that would include elements of President BidenJoe BidenAides who clashed with Giuliani intentionally gave him wrong time for Trump debate prep: book Biden says Eid al-Adha carries 'special meaning' amid pandemic Manchin to back nominee for public lands chief MORE’s American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan that don’t have Republican support.Democrats would be able to enact those elements of Biden’s agenda with simple-majority votes under the budget reconciliation process.Another hang-up in the negotiations is over how much money to devote to public transit, an important Democratic priority that has limited GOP support.Republicans are balking at what they say would be an unprecedented increase in transit funding at a time when an estimated $40 billion in COVID-19 relief funding for public transit systems remain unspent.Sen. Rob PortmanRobert (Rob) Jones PortmanSchumer sets up Wednesday infrastructure showdown GOP says Schumer vote will fail The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Goldman Sachs - Key week for Biden's infrastructure goals MORE (Ohio), the lead Republican negotiator, said Monday that the White House would prefer to save the Medicare rebate offset for their $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.“It’s a pay-for that everybody acknowledges, Democrats and Republicans, and I believe it will be used in some context because it’s viewed as good policy,” Portman told reporters.But he acknowledged that Democrats “would like to use it for reconciliation.”“We’re working on other pay-fors,” he added.The ban on prescription drug rebates put in place by the Trump administration wound up increasing health insurance premiums.The CBO has informed lawmakers that if they reverse the ban on rebates, the government will save money because it subsidizes premiums.