Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader (D-NY), speaking at a conference of the Democratic Senate Caucus. Michael Brochstein | Sipa USA | Sipa via AP ImagesAfter months of negotiations, the Senate passed a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a budget resolution that calls for $3.5 trillion in additional spending. Democrats will face a difficult task in guiding President Joe Biden's massive economic plans through Congress. Early Wednesday, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), stated that "What we are doing here is difficult." "Democrats have worked for months to get to this point, and there are many more labors to go. It will be worthwhile, I can tell you with absolute certainty. Schumer and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have a clear checklist before them. To send the bipartisan infrastructure bill to Biden, the House must pass it.The Democrats' separate plan for expanding the social safety net to promote clean energy and will need more steps. A budget resolution must also be passed by the House. It will then take congressional committees weeks to draft a bill that can be passed by both chambers of Congress using the reconciliation process. This would require votes from 50 senators. The process of drafting legislation this large will take many months and may be stalled several times. Pelosi stated that she would not be able to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill nor the final Democratic spending package until they are both passed by the Senate. The speaker's spokesperson said Wednesday that she has not changed her strategy since the Senate approved the budget resolution and the infrastructure plan. Pelosi was under pressure by some Democrats, including the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus to vote separately for the infrastructure plan. As centrists become wary about additional spending, and progressives feel that the bipartisan plan is insufficient, she has tied the two packages together.
