Biden walks back veto threat on bipartisan infrastructure deal

US president withdraws his threat to veto a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill unless a separate Democratic spending plan also passes Congress.

US President Joe Biden has endorsed a fragile bipartisan deal on infrastructure “without hesitation”, walking back from a threat to veto the plan if Congress failed to also pass a larger package to expand the country’s social safety net. Biden said on Saturday that he did not mean to suggest in earlier remarks that he would veto the nearly $1 trillion infrastructure bill unless Congress also passed a $4 trillion package that he and fellow Democrats aim to approve along party lines. Speaking on Thursday moments after fulfilling his hopes of reaching a bipartisan accord, Biden appeared to put the deal in jeopardy with his comment that the infrastructure bill would have to move in “tandem” with the larger bill.