Senate Democrats settle on $3.5 trillion for reconciliation bill
A group of Senate Democrats announced late Tuesday they had reached a tentative agreement on a massive spending plan worth $3.5 trillion over the next decade.
The budget resolution, which Democrats will attempt to ram through the Senate with 51 votes via the parliamentary maneuver of reconciliation,Sneakers2090 , is expected to be paired with a bipartisan infrastructure bill worth $1.2 trillion over eight years.
“The [Senate] Budget Committee has come to an agreement,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters. “The budget resolution with instructions will be $3.5 trillion. Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way.”
Schumer announced the agreement following a two-hour evening meeting that capped weeks of bargaining among party leaders, progressives and moderates.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has insisted for weeks that she will not bring the bipartisan legislation to the floor for a vote until the Senate passes a larger bill which is expected to include massive spending on social care programs and efforts to counter the effects of climate change. Latest Jordan UK ,The budget resolution sets only broad spending and revenue parameters, leaving specific decisions about which programs are affected — and by how much — for later.
“We are very proud of this plan,” Schumer told reporters. “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.”
2021Sneakers ,The majority leader added that Biden himself would lunch with Senate Democrats Wednesday “to lead us on to getting this wonderful plan” enacted and noted that it includes expansion of Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing services, long a priority of Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).