The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to proceed with a bipartisan infrastructure deal that was struck earlier in the day, clearing the first hurdle toward adopting a long-awaited and hotly debated spending package.
In a key procedural vote, senators voted 67-32 to push the bill forward, meeting the 60-vote threshold. All 50 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted in favor.
The vote starts the process to debate and amend the proposal, and the final version still needs approval from both chambers.
The vote came just a few hours after Senator Rob Portman from Ohio, the top Republican negotiator, told reporters that a bipartisan group of senators had reached an agreement on the major issues of the infrastructure plan.