As Democrats attempt to simultaneously pass the $1 trillion infrastructure plan approved by a bipartisan group of senators and the $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” package that would advance on a partisan basis, they have one big advantage: most Americans say they support both.
The bipartisan infrastructure plan received support from 63% of respondents in a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll, the paper reported Wednesday, while the larger partisan package received support from 52%.
Partisan differences were substantial, though, with only 36% of Republicans backing the bipartisan bill, compared to 89% of Democrats. On the larger partisan package, just 21% of Republicans expressed support, compared to 89% of Democrats.
Half of the respondents in the poll – which involved 1,000 registered voters reached by phone between Thursday, August 19 and Tuesday, August 24, with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points – said they want lawmakers to work together to work across party lines on major issues, even if less is accomplished that way. But a slim majority of Democrats (51%) say they want their representatives to get things done, even if it means moving ahead without Republican support.
