随着参议院周三就两党基础设施协议进行关键的测试投票，一些试图敲定该协议的参议院共和党人恳求多数党领袖查克·舒默将投票推迟到下周。
一直试图达成协议的两党参议员小组中的主要共和党谈判代表表示，他们相信自己可以在周一之前坚定自己的提议。周二晚些时候，这群人闭门讨论了两个多小时的墨西哥食品和葡萄酒，但在如何支付1.2万亿美元的一揽子计划上，他们没有消除所有分歧。
没有一个确定的协议，共和党谈判代表周二离开国会大厦，称他们不相信有一个共和党人会在周三投票“赞成”就任何措施开始辩论。
共和党谈判代表主张舒默将投票推迟到周一，以便为这个两党团体赢得更多时间来完成工作。共和党人说，舒默很清楚他们的立场，即等到下周举行投票将增加成功的机会。
舒默设定了高风险的投票，试图迫使总统的首要任务取得进展乔·拜登但是他需要共和党通过60票的门槛来推进立法。
“我不认为明天会有共和党人投赞成票。我认为我们不应该这样做，因为我们还没有准备好，”这位资深议员展望周三的投票时说。
这位资深议员说，相反，共和党谈判代表就向舒默发函进行了辩论，称共和党人准备支持周一开始的辩论，他们一直警告称，他们不会就推进一项尚未起草的法案进行投票。
据众多相关成员称，该组织与白宫官员一直在夜以继日地工作，已经“接近”就如何支付道路、桥梁和其他“传统基础设施”的费用达成协议。周二下午，他们在拜登高级助手的参与下再次会面，试图敲定一项法案。
白宫表示，将继续支持舒默的策略。
但据多位谈判者称，两党议员小组不会在周三之前达成最终协议。谈判代表周二表示，两党法案还有大约六个遗留问题，其中最棘手的是如何安排公共交通系统的支出。
与此同时，这位资深议员预计，这项立法将在周一前定稿，其中包括各机构对所有融资选项进行的无党派分析、将产生多少收入以及最终价格标签。
尤其是共和党人，他们将希望表明5790亿美元的新支出已经全部付清。
截至周二下午，舒默似乎不会推迟投票，但如果投票走向失败，他可以将影响降至最低。
如果是这样的话，舒默可以在最后一刻将他的选票转向失败的一方，使他作为多数党领袖，根据参议院的规则，再次召集投票重新考虑。
少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)周二指出，在两党小组有时间完成工作后，舒默选择在几天内再次提出该法案。
“坚持一个非常简单的原则不会浪费时间，在我们知道法案是什么之前，我们不会通过法案。
他可以在周一这样做，届时谈判小组中的共和党成员表示他们将准备好离开。
周三失败的投票会不会给共和党谈判者带来麻烦?
不，接近谈判的资深议员和参议员杰里·摩兰说。，谈判小组成员。
周三的投票将开始就空壳法案进行辩论，因为谈判代表没有最终的法案。如果谈判者达成最终协议，它将成为一个占位符。
这项措施与拜登和民主党正在推动的一项规模更大的法案不同，该法案将花费3.5万亿美元用于所谓的“人类基础设施”，如儿童保育。
民主党人计划使用一种叫做“和解”的预算工具，在没有共和党人投票的情况下推动参议院通过该法案。
Senate Republicans warn Schumer they won't help on Wednesday's high-stakes infrastructure vote
As the Senate barrels toward a key test vote Wednesday on a bipartisan infrastructure deal, some Senate Republicans involved in trying to nail down the deal are pleading with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to delay the vote until next week.
Key Republican negotiators in the bipartisan group of senators who have been trying to work out the deal say they believe they can firm up their proposal by Monday. The group huddled over Mexican food and wine behind closed doors for over two hours late Tuesday night, but left without squaring all of their differences on how to pay for the $1.2 trillion package.
Without a firmed-up agreement, Republican negotiators left the Capitol Tuesday saying they do not believe a single Republican will vote "yes" to start debate on any measure Wednesday.
Republican negotiators advocated that Schumer delay the vote until Monday to buy more time for the bipartisan group to finish its work. Schumer, the Republicans say, is well-aware of their position that waiting until next week to hold a vote would heighten the chances of success.
Schumer had set the high-stakes vote to try to force progress on a top priority for PresidentJoe Biden, but he needs the Republicans to get past the 60-vote threshold to advance legislation.
"I don’t think any Republican votes yes tomorrow. I don’t think we should, because we’re not ready,” the senior lawmaker said looking ahead to Wednesday's vote.
Instead, the GOP negotiators debated sending a letter to Schumer saying that Republicans, who have been warning they won't vote on advancing a bill that's not yet written, are prepared to support starting debate on Monday, the senior lawmaker said.
The group, which has been working around the clock, along with White House officials, is "close" to a deal on how to pay for roads, bridges and other "traditional infrastructure," according to numerous members involved. They were meeting again Tuesday afternoon -- joined by senior Biden aides – to try to finalize a bill.
The White House said it continued to support Schumer's tactics.
But the bipartisan group of lawmakers won’t get a final agreement by Wednesday, according to multiple negotiators. Negotiators said Tuesday that there are about six remaining issues with the bipartisan bill, the thorniest of which is how to structure spending on public transit systems.
At the same time, the senior lawmaker expects the legislation to be finalized by Monday, and that includes the nonpartisan analyses by various agencies breaking down all of the financing options, how much revenue would be produced, and a final price tag.
Republicans, in particular, will be looking to show that the $579 billion in new spending is fully paid for.
As of Tuesday afternoon, it didn't appear as if Schumer would delay the vote, but he could minimize the impact, should it be headed for failure.
If it is, Schumer could switch his vote to the losing side at the last minute, enabling him as majority leader, under Senate rules, to call up the vote again for reconsideration.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday pointed to Schumer's option to bring up the bill again in a few days, after the bipartisan group has had time to complete its work.
"No time is lost by adhering to a very simple principle, we are not going to the bill until we know what the bill is.
He could do so on Monday, when GOP members of the negotiating group say they’ll be ready to go.
Might a failed vote Wednesday poison the well for GOP negotiators?
No, said the senior lawmaker close to the talks, and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., a member of the negotiating group.
The Wednesday vote is to start debate on a shell bill because there is no final bill from the negotiators. It would serve as a placeholder should negotiators strike a final deal.
The measure is separate from a much larger bill Biden and Democrats are pushing that would spend $3.5 trillion on so-called "human infrastructure" such as child care.
Democrats plan to push that through the Senate with no Republican votes, using a budget tool called "reconciliation."
