Former President Donald Trump reached out from news and social media purgatory on Monday to attack “weak” "Republican in Name Only (RINO)" lawmakers negotiating with Democrats to approve a $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending plan.
“Senate Republicans are being absolutely savaged by Democrats on the so-called 'bipartisan’ infrastructure bill,” Trump said in a statement.
“Mitch McConnell and his small group of RINOs wants nothing more than to get a deal done at any cost to prove that he can work with the Radical Left Democrats. It is so important to him that he is agreeing to almost anything,” Trump added, referring to the Republican senate minority leader, with whom he has had a bitter and long-running feud.
“Don’t do the infrastructure deal, wait until after we get proper election results in 2022 or otherwise, and regain a strong negotiating stance. Republicans, don’t’ let the Radical Left play you for weak fools and losers!” Trump urged.
Infrastructure Bill Enters 11th Hour
Trump’s tirade comes as a bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers, led by Utah Republican Mitt Romney and Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, works to seal a $2 trillion infrastructure bill announced by President Biden in late March, and whittled down by about $800 billion to $1.2 trillion total by Republicans in June.
Time is running out to get the infrastructure bill to a vote on the Senate floor before Congress leaves Washington for its annual month-long recess.
On Sunday, Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman told to ABC News that he was hopeful that lawmakers could hammer out a deal this week, estimating that the Senate was “about 90 percent of the way there.”
Last week, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill should be passed before the recess alongside a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation agreement.
Washington has already pumped over $6 trillion in additional cash into the economy over the past year-and-a-half in response to the coronavirus pandemic, contributing to skyrocketing prices for food, building materials and real estate. On top of that, much of the new cash was created by adding to the federal debt instead of new revenue, prompting government debt to climb to over $28.5 trillion. Combined debt – which includes federal liabilities plus all other public and private obligations – stands at over $85 trillion, over four times the US’ annual GDP, or $257,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States.