Chuck Schumer Push On Infrastructure Bill: Will Go All Out For Reconciliation

Chuck Schumer
Chuck Schumer

A meeting has been conveyed by Chuck Schumer on the infrastructure bill. He will be convening a meeting involving all the 11 Democratic Senators on the Budget Committee this Wednesday. It will start the process towards a budget reconciliation, finally flagging the path for the Democrats to push through the infrastructure bill that will be voted along party lines.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer disclosed his plans in a news conference on Tuesday. But some Democratic leaders are uncertain that they would succeed in pushing through another infrastructure package that follows the reconciliation efforts.

Chuck Schumer Hopeful Of Resolution

But Chuck Schumer was hopeful and said that both the track on reconciliation and the bipartisan track were moving forward and he hopes that things will be resolved in July. He was referring to the bipartisan bill and the budget resolution.

The theSenate procedure allows changes in the annual budget even without the 60 votes normally needed to circumvent a filibuster. This will allow the equally divided Senate, which stands at 50-50, to pass major chunks of both the $2.25T American Jobs Plan plus the $1.8T Families Plan even with 51 votes. Vice President Kamala Harris is the casting vote.

Chuck Schumer said that as the President’s budget request of fiscal 2022 had reached Congress, it was for the Budget Committee to start the vital work of going for a budget resolution.

There was an implicit acknowledgment that the resolution would lead to the passing of parts of the Families Plan and the Jobs Plan through a simple majority.

He said that it was through a budget resolution that the plans would be outlined. The move is an indication that the Senate leadership believes it has the backing of every Democrat for a reconciliation package in the Senate. Democrat Joe Machin had threatened to oppose it if the bill wasn’t bipartisan.

There is a concern among other Democrats that the plans do not address wealth inequality and also the immediate need to address carbon emission issues.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has said that she would oppose a bipartisan bill that did not have the support of all 50 Democratic members on the shape and size of the reconciliation bill. But Chuck Schumer was confident of getting both on track – the bipartisan bill and the budget resolution.