Ted Cruz had placed a "soft hold" on the aid package to give him more time to study the details of the proposal. | AP Photo Cruz won't hold up Flint aid deal in Senate

Ted Cruz won't block a bipartisan Senate bill that would provide hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of aid for Flint, Mich. and other communities that need to upgrade their drinking water infrastructure.

"Cruz has reviewed the bill now and will not prevent it from moving forward," spokesman Phil Novack said in an email.


But Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has a hold on the deal to proceed to votes on the Flint aid alongside a bipartisan energy bill, a Senate aide told POLITICO.

Cruz had placed a "soft hold" on the aid package to give him more time to study the details of the proposal. Without naming Cruz or Lee, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a lead negotiator on the Flint aid package, acknowledged Thursday a hold was preventing it from coming to the floor, but Inhofe said he was hopeful the impasse could be resolved.

Senate Democrats blinked when they agreed this week to pay for federal aid to address lead-tainted drinking water in Flint by cutting a program prized by the state’s senators.

Now they say it's Republicans' turn.

Democrats say their members all support the package to provide at least $850 million in aid toward deficient water infrastructure and health programs in Flint and elsewhere, despite deep cuts to an advanced vehicle manufacturing loan program. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), a leader in the negotiations, said those cuts amount to "ending a program that I authored" in a 2007 energy law and that the package meets "every test Republicans gave us."

Stabenow had suggested Cruz's hold could haunt him on the campaign trail.

“We have heard that and not a very smart move for a man who’s going to be in a primary in Michigan on March 8," Stabenow said of Cruz. “And in Michigan this is a hugely bipartisan nonpartisan issue that everybody cares about.”

Other Republicans also may have holds on the bill, Stabenow said, but she predicted that “one way or another” the Senate will take up the package next week.

Lee's hold is tied to concerns over an energy bill he opposed in committee and the package of financial assistance for Flint and other areas to upgrade their infrastructure to reduce the high amount of lead in drinking water, the aide said. A Lee spokeswoman declined to confirm the hold Thursday.

The issue for Republicans may have more to do with concerns over how Congress spends federal dollars in emergency situations, than anything particular to Flint or drinking water infrastructure in general.

The agreement they are discussing now could set the bar for how Republicans may similar be expected to respond to other disasters, including blossoming concern over the Zika virus and opioid abuse.

“This isn’t a referendum on Flint per se,” a senior Senate GOP aide said. “This is a referendum on the process.”

Democrats have called for massive infusions of federal aid to address both those crises, such as the $1.8 billion President Barack Obama is asking Congress to provide for Zika. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, meanwhile, has signaled that Democrats are unsatisfied with a bill making its way to the floor (S. 524) that would redirect funds to address opioid abuse, without spending any new money. The Senate needs "to devote real resources, not just lip service" to the epidemic, Reid warned.

If Republicans agree to new federal money for lead-tainted drinking water, it may accelerate calls to spend more elsewhere.

A House aide downplayed those concerns, calling Flint "totally different" from the other high-profile crises. But any aid package the Senate agreed to would have to go through the lower chamber, which may pursue its own path.

“We’re working on our own ideas and national solution here and it’s a priority for sure,” one senior House GOP aide said. “But it’s just so early.”

The House isn’t expected to propose anything until at least after the Energy and Commerce Committee holds a Flint hearing next month. A specific date hasn’t yet been set.

Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton, who chairs the energy panel, and Democrat Dan Kildee, whose district includes Flint, cosponsored H.R. 4470, which the House this month approved 416-2. The bill would require EPA to notify the public when concentrations of lead in drinking water exceed levels triggering action and improve federal, state and local communication.

The Senate would amend that bill by adding the funding assistance under the approach envisioned by architects of the Flint deal.

Democrats have elevated Flint into a broader narrative on race in their primary, with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders agreeing to debate there March 6. Clinton, who has been endorsed by Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, in particular using it to highlight her appeal to black voters, including a new 60-second ad showcasing her recent visit there.

But Republicans have their own electoral factors to consider.

They hold a tenuous majority in the Senate, especially with the prospect of defending 24 of the 34 seats up for reelection. And two of their more endangered incumbents, Ohio’s Rob Portman and Mark Kirk of Illinois, are original co-sponsors of the Flint compromise. The small town of Sebring, Ohio, also is facing a serious lead contamination problem. Another swing-state Republican up for reelection, North Carolina’s Richard Burr, is also an original cosponsor.

The energy bill is championed by Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who is also up for reelection but doesn't yet face a serious challenge.

Supporters of the Flint package are asking their colleagues to unanimously agree to a deal that would allow them to first complete work on the energy bill, which stalled over the aid dispute. That would include working through 38 energy bill amendments, including 30 by voice and eight that would require 60 votes. There has been at least some dispute over that list of amendments, but it is unclear whether those issues are contributing to the holdup.

Portman and Murkowski both said Thursday they expect the package to move next week.

John Thune, the third ranking Senate Republican, said a deal to at least proceed to separate sets of votes on the Flint and energy strategies “probably gets done” thanks to the backing of Republican leaders like Murkowski and Inhofe, who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee. "Whether or not there are Republican votes for it, I don’t know," he added.

Inhofe said he has tried to stress to fellow Republicans that issue of dangerous lead blood levels in children creates an infrastructure and health crisis that should rise above traditional fiscal conservative arguments over spending.

“I always try to stress to people, and I did in there, that now and again you have an issue that rises above what would normally be your behavioral pattern. This did," the Oklahoma Republican said after a lunch meeting with Senate Republicans Wednesday.

He was optimistic but also didn’t guarantee enough Senate Republicans would support the Flint compromise.

“Now it might not pass, it’s going to take 60 votes,” he said Wednesday. “And if it doesn’t, I feel my conscience is clear because we’ve offered something that will solve the problem.”

Annie Snider and Andrew Restuccia contributed to this report.