The Senate will begin voting next week on a massive infrastructure and social spending package.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the plan on the Senate floor Thursday. The New York Democrat said the Senate would vote on both a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure measure as well as a budget resolution calling for an additional $3.5 trillion on social spending programs.
“The time has come to make progress,” Schumer said.
Schumer’s announcement came one day after President Joe Biden urged Senate Democrats in a private lunch to back both bills.
“The meeting was wonderful, the excitement was palpable, and the opportunity to do so much good, for so many, was exciting,” Schumer said.
Schumer announced he’ll take the first procedural step Monday on both the narrow infrastructure bill and the budget resolution, which sets up a vote Wednesday on whether the Senate can begin debating on either measure.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill will need 60 votes to proceed, which means all Democrats and at least 10 Republicans will have to vote for it.
The budget resolution only requires a simple majority to begin debate. Democrats can move ahead with the approval of all 50 lawmakers in their party plus the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The votes will set a deadline for both parties to work out differences in the two measures.
Many Senate Republicans oppose the bipartisan measure because they do not believe the plan provides a realistic way to avoid adding to the nation’s staggering debt. Republican lawmakers are also wary of Democrats tying the narrow bill to their massive social spending plan, which every GOP lawmaker opposes.
Democrats, meanwhile, are working out internal differences on both measures. Liberal Democrats have complained the bipartisan infrastructure package is too narrow and neglects mass transit and climate change mitigation. They are also concerned the $3.5 trillion budget framework will not provide enough money to pay for the social programs the party believes are needed to fight poverty, improve healthcare, and help families.
Schumer said lawmakers “must now finalize their agreement” on the bipartisan bill, with “the same deadline … for the entire Democratic caucus” to agree on the budget resolution.
