On The Money: Moderates’ $800B infrastructure bill is a tough sell with Democrats | Justice Dept. sues Trump ally Roger Stone for unpaid taxes

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THE BIG DEAL—Moderates’ $800B infrastructure bill is a tough sell with Democrats: A group of Republican and Democratic moderates in the Senate are circling around a compromise infrastructure spending proposal that would cost around $800 billion — a sum that falls well short of what most Democrats want and what President Biden has proposed. 

• At the end of March, Biden unveiled a $2.25 trillion proposal dubbed the “American Jobs Plan” focused on updating roads, bridges and public transit, along with funding to fight climate change and other provisions to prop up American families. 
• But Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is leading the push for a compromise proposal that she says could fall in the range of $600 billion to $800 billion over five years.

But moving a scaled-down infrastructure package through the Senate, even as a down payment on Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, may be a tough sell in the Democratic caucus, especially when the most influential centrist in Congress, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), isn’t endorsing a scaled-down infrastructure bill.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes. If it takes $4 trillion, I’d do $4 trillion but we have to pay for it,” he said. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton explains here.

LEADING THE DAY

California Democrats urge Biden to address SALT cap in infrastructure bill: House Democrats from California sent a letter to President Biden this week urging him to undo the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction in infrastructure legislation.

• The letter is the latest push from lawmakers in high-tax states to lift the $10,000 SALT deduction limit in legislation based on Biden’s American Jobs Plan. 
• Most House Democrats from New York signed onto a similar letter earlier this week. 

“The removal of this arbitrary cap is necessary and prudent as we seek remedies to help the American people during this time of recovery,” they wrote. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda has more here.

Justice Dept. sues Trump ally Roger Stone for unpaid taxes: The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit on Friday against Roger Stone, the longtime GOP political operative and ally to former President Trump, accusing him of owing the government about $2 million in unpaid federal income taxes.

In a federal district court in Florida, the Justice Department alleged on Friday that Stone and his wife Nydia used a limited liability corporation called Drake Ventures to “receive payments that are payable to Roger Stone personally, pay their personal expenses, shield their assets, and avoid reporting taxable income to the IRS.”

• The Justice Department alleges that after Stone was criminally charged in January 2019, he and his wife used Drake Venture funds to purchase their home in Broward County, Fla., and registered it under another entity. 
• According to the lawsuit, the couple was in “substantial debt” to the IRS at the time of purchase.

The lawsuit comes nearly four months after Trump pardoned Stone following his conviction on charges of lying to Congress and witness tampering. The Hill’s Harper Neidig breaks it down here.

ON TAP NEXT WEEK

Tuesday:

• The House Financial Services Committee holds a markup at 10 a.m.
• The House Small Business Committee holds an oversight hearing regarding the SBA’s pandemic relief programs at 10 a.m.
• The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing on investing in rural communities at 10 a.m.
• All four members of the Federal Trade Commission testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on consumer protection at 10 a.m.
• The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on using the tax code to fight gender, racial and ethnic disparities at 10 a.m.
• The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee holds a hearing on workforce modernization and training after COVID-19 at 10 a.m.
• The Senate Appropriations Committee holds a hearing on the American Jobs Plan at 10:30 a.m.
• The Select Committee on the Climate Crisis holds a hearing on creating jobs and driving economic growth through climate action at 12:30

Wednesday:

• The Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing on the nomination of Lina Khan to serve as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission at 10 a.m.

Thursday:

• The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing on green energy and the economy at 10 a.m.
• The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on U.S.-China economic relations at 10 a.m.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Drivers at the food delivery startup Imperfect Foods in San Francisco have voted to unionize, the local United Food and Commercial Workers union announced Friday.
• Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Friday said companies should be treated as key stakeholders in efforts to find sustainable solutions to climate change.
• Industry leaders are criticizing aspects of President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package, saying it doesn’t focus more on recycling as a way to bolster sustainability.