The Democratic-controlled House should next take the budget proposal and pass it. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer sent a letter to aides on Tuesday saying the chamber planned to return the week of August 23 to consider the budget proposal.
Passage of the budget proposal by both houses would unlock the ability for Democrats to use a process called party-line votes to pass legislation on health care, aid for families, addressing the climate crisis and more. This is known as budget reconciliation. Tuesday’s voting is the first step towards a long process. Before Democrats can move forward on the reconciliation plan, the resolution needs to be approved by both chambers, which still must be drafted and will be considered in the fall.
Democrats will need to put together a far-reaching legislative package in such a way as to ensure the support of every Senate Democrat, from moderates to progressives. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer can’t afford to lose a single vote within his caucus in a 50-50 partisan split chamber where Vice President Kamala Harris may break ties.
Attempts to keep each Democrat in line will test leadership, and there are already signs of a bigger challenge ahead.
Democrats will also be subject to constraints on what they can include under the budget reconciliation process. The provisions have to directly affect the budget, and Senate MPs can rule that certain priorities cannot be included as a result. The MP is responsible for advising the Chamber on how its rules, protocols and precedents work.
The budget proposal, which Senate Democrats formally unveiled on Monday, serves as a blueprint for what is expected to be included in the far-reaching package and sets a target date of September 15 for committees to submit their reconciliation legislation. does.
Democrats in Congress are pursuing a dual-track strategy to pass key infrastructure and economic legislation and have worked to push for both bipartisan and partisan packages. Earlier on Tuesday, the Senate passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill after painstaking and drawn-out negotiations between a bipartisan group of senators and the Biden administration. The push to pass a separate legislative package on a party-line vote would allow Democrats to implement key Biden priorities left over from the bipartisan deal that go beyond the traditional definition of physical infrastructure.
“We plan to pay for this package by paying the rich their fair share,” Schumer said Monday against GOP criticism of the package’s high price tag.
“The Democratic budget will be the most important legislation for American families since the era of the New Deal and Great Society. This is big, bold change. The kind of change America is thirsty for,” he said.
Schumer argued that the core of the Democrats’ comprehensive plan is to “restore the middle class in the 21st century and give more Americans the opportunity to get there.”
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