Senate Republicans preparing smaller infrastructure plan to counter Biden's

A group of moderate Senate Republicans are drafting an infrastructure plan as a counteroffer to President Biden's roughly $2 trillion infrastructure package, which critics argue is bloated with too much unrelated spending.

The proposal's price tag is expected to be less than half of what Biden is proposing – from $600 billion to $800 billion, according to Politico.

"What I'd like to do is get back to what I consider the regular definition of infrastructure in terms of job creation," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. "So that's roads, bridges, ports, airports." , including broadband into that, water infrastructure."

The West Virginia Republican said broadband and water infrastructure spending are also in the mix.

Romney told reporters Wednesday that the $800 billion estimate might be too high.

The Utah Republican did not say how the group proposes to pay for the spending but said user fees like a "pay-for" could be proposed.

"The pay-for ought to come from the people who are using it," he said.

The 10 senators, which also includes Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, hope their plan will get moderate Senate Democrats to cross over and support their plan instead of the president's.

Biden has yet to comment on the counteroffer. But Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent, doesn't think it goes far enough to fix the country's outdated infrastructure, according to The Washington Post.

"We have a major crisis in terms of roads, bridges, water systems, affordable housing, you name it," he said. “That is nowhere near what we need. Not to mention, we have to address the existential threat of climate change."