(Adds Commerce Secretary, background)
WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - The Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives will start the process of preparing an infrastructure bill for a floor vote on Wednesday, with or without Republican support, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN on Sunday morning.
"The president still has hope, Joe Manchin still has hope” for crafting a bipartisan infrastructure bill with Republicans, Granholm said, referring to the Democratic West Virginia senator. "But I will tell you the House will start their markup on Wednesday."
President Joe Biden will discuss deal possibilities with the main Republican negotiator on infrastructure, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, also of West Virginia, on Monday for the third time, after rejecting Republicans' latest bill offer on Friday.
The Republican offer included just over $300 billion in new spending to fix U.S. roads, bridges, broadband and other public works, the White House said on Friday. Biden is asking for at least $1 trillion in new spending.
"The President is leading us to continue to stay at the table," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on ABC on Sunday. "So we won't do this forever, but right now there's good faith efforts on both sides and we're going to continue the work of doing our job and trying to get a bipartisan agreement."
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(Reporting by Heather Timmons, Humeyra Pamuk Editing by Alistair Bell and Sonya Hepinstall)
((Heather.Timmons@thomsonreuters.com;))
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