The Senate will take up major parts of an infrastructure package in July and lay the groundwork for passing a massive social spending bill later in the year in a push that may lead to the cancellation of its traditional summer recess.
The Senate returns next week after two weeks off, but some lawmakers and staff have been continuously working since last month to turn a fragile bipartisan infrastructure deal into legislation that can pass the Senate in the next few weeks.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told lawmakers on Friday the Senate will take up the bipartisan deal and will also consider a budget resolution that paves the way for a second, massive social spending package to pass by the end of the year.
There are only a few weeks to accomplish this legislative feat.
The Senate was set to adjourn from Aug. 9 until nearly mid-September. But Schumer told lawmakers Friday he may keep the Senate in session into the summer recess to work on infrastructure, which has become the top priority for President Joe Biden and Democrats.
“Please be advised that time is of the essence and we have a lot of work to do,” Schumer wrote to lawmakers. “Senators should be prepared for the possibility of working long nights, weekends, and remaining in Washington into the previously-scheduled August state work period.”
Democratic leaders and Biden are working on winning broad party support for a narrow infrastructure deal announced last month by five Republicans and five Democrats. The $1.2 trillion measure won critical backing from Biden, who has long pushed for a bipartisan agreement on fixing the nation’s roads and bridges.
BIDEN RISKS ‘INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK’ THROWBACK IF BILLS STALL
However, many liberal Democrats are skeptical.
They fear the narrow bill will pass while the second social spending measure will be left behind.
Democrats plan to pass the second bill using a budgetary tactic called reconciliation, which allows them to pass legislation without GOP votes.
The second spending package has not been written, but early discussions suggest liberal Democrats are seeking up to $5 trillion dollars for a host of new spending that would pay for universal preschool, free community college, massive green-energy tax subsidies, and hundreds of billions of dollars for what Democrats call “the caring economy.”
Biden announced the spending proposals earlier this year in a package he labeled the American Families Plan.
But the package has encountered sticker shock among fiscally moderate Senate Democrats, who could doom passage if they refuse to vote for it.
It will require every Democrat and the tiebreaking power of Vice President Kamala Harris to pass the package using reconciliation.
Schumer on Friday said Democrats will pave the way for passing the second measure by taking up a budget resolution, which provides an annual spending outline and unlocked the ability for Democrats to pass the bill unilaterally.
Panel Chairman Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and a socialist, is pitching a $6 trillion package that would add to Biden’s spending proposal with housing for the homeless and the expansion of Medicare, among other provisions.
So far, several centrist Democrats say the cost needs to come down by several trillion dollars, provoking a fight that could doom both bills.
Schumer pledged not to abandon the second package in a statement likely aimed at assuring his skeptical liberal faction that the two-track deal is legitimate.
“On the second track, the Senate Budget Committee continues their work on a FY 2022 Budget Resolution to enact the remaining elements of the American Jobs and Families Plan — especially provisions on climate change, health care and the caring economy,” Schumer wrote.
Outside interest groups are lobbying Congress to push to get the $1 trillion, bipartisan infrastructure package across the finish line.
Business and Labor groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, issued a joint statement this week citing infrastructure modernization as a critical step in the nation’s economic growth and praised the bipartisan accord.
“Now is the time to turn these promises into projects,” The group wrote. We urge Congress to turn this framework into legislation that will be signed into law, and our organizations are committed to helping see this cross the finish line. Enacting significant infrastructure legislation, including investments in our roads, bridges, ports, airports, transit, rail, water and energy infrastructure, access to broadband, and more, is critical to our nation and will create middle-class family-sustaining jobs. “
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Democrats have yet to release legislative text of the bipartisan bill, and not even Speaker Nancy Pelosi has seen the full details, she told reporters this week.
The California Democrat will be instrumental in convincing her mostly liberal caucus to get behind the narrow bipartisan deal.
“We haven’t seen the text,” Pelosi said Thursday. “But so far, we’re OK with what we’re hearing.”
