Joe Biden scraps corporate tax hike in exchange for bipartisan support on infrastructure deal

June 3, 2021 Carley Shaffer US 0

US President Joe Biden speaks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 31, 2021. - President Biden will unveil in Pittsburgh a $2 trillion infrastructure plan aimed at modernizing the United States' crumbling transport network, creating millions of jobs and enabling the country to "out-compete" China. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Joe Biden speaks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 31, 2021. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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UPDATED 2:36 PM PT – Thursday, June 3, 2021

Joe Biden has made a massive concession on his infrastructure deal in hopes of gaining support from Republicans. An anonymous White House official said Biden has offered to drop his original plan to hike the corporate tax rate to 28 percent and instead said he would set a minimum tax rate of 15 percent.

However, in exchange, Republicans would have to agree to commit to $1 trillion in infrastructure spending. Even so, Biden did express the possibility of a future tax hike as part of a later spending package.

This comes after Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va) met with Biden to negotiate a deal on Wednesday. In a statement released by the White House, it suggested discussions with the West Virginia lawmaker were constructive and frank. Capito, the Senate GOP’s lead negotiator, advocated for the adoption of the Republican’s $928 billion counterproposal instead of Biden’s $1.7 trillion package.

In this photo taken Thursday, May 27, 2021, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., the GOP's lead negotiator on a counteroffer to President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan, listens at left as she is joined at a news conference by, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., at the Capitol in Washington. Biden and the West Virginia senator will meet Wednesday afternoon to work on their differences. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) pitching a counteroffer to Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A major disagreement has been on the definition of infrastructure itself, with Democrats wanting to set aside money for social programs that have not been traditionally included in an infrastructure bill. A spokesperson for Capito said the two discussed how they could come together to reach a bipartisan agreement.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been pressuring Biden not to give Republicans an inch in negotiations, while Biden has continued to criticize members of his own Party for not voting down Party lines.

Despite ongoing partisan hurdles and a $772 billion difference, Capito and Biden are expected to speak again on Friday.