The enormous $3.5 trillion Infrastructure plans over the coming decade, is actually moving as Senate Democrats have reached an agreement on the human capital portion of President Biden’s infrastructure plan that would include childcare, Medicare expansion, climate change, and so much more that doesn’t relate to normal infrastructure.
According to Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who said, “We are very proud of this plan. We know we have a long road to go. We’re going to get this done for the sake of making average Americans’ lives a whole lot better.”
Democrats are using the Budget Reconciliation Process to pass this plan. This plan means all 50 Senate Democrats do need to get behind it, but no Republican support would be required.
On Monday night Democrats said the deal is fully paid for in part by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. But it is unclear how much revenue Democrats plan to raise or what the next cost will be. Multiple sources have said this does not include an increase in the debt ceiling. Technically that comes back into effect at the end of this month, although the Treasury Department likely has some wiggle room into the fall.
In discussing the budget agreement, Schumer and other lawmakers did not respond when asked if they had the support of all 50 Democratic senators, which they will need to succeed. They also have virtually no margin for error in the House, where they will be able to lose no more than three Democratic votes and still prevail.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has warned that Senate Republicans would not only vote against the pending package, but they would also oppose a measure to raise the nation’s borrowing limit.
“Democrats have all the existing tools they need to raise the debt limit on a partisan basis,” McConnel said. “If they want 50 lockstep Democratic votes to spend trillions and trillions more, they can find 50 Democratic votes to finance it. If they don’t want Republicans’ input, they don’t need our help.”
Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the number two Senate Republican said, “I think the real action will be on reconciliation,” referring to the Democrat process they are using to pass the Biden spending plan.
Democrats will need total unity as they take two steps to get their $3.5 trillion spending plan through the Senate. The first step, they must pass a budget resolution that includes the topline and drafting instructions. They are expected to try to take that step asap and appear confident that they will have total unity in their 50-member conference.
They will need to negotiate and write the spending plant itself. It’s less certain they’ll have all 50 Democrats on the same page for that vote.
Both steps spark what is known as a Vote-A-Rama in the Senate, which is sometimes very chaotic, hours-long session where any senator can force a vote on any proposal.
It’s a prime opportunity for GOP Senators to force Democrats to take politically difficult votes ahead of next year’s midterm election.
“Let’s just say this process should be painful,” Sen. Thune added.
