Senate set to pass $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill as Democrats move ahead with economic plan
KEY POINTS
The Senate is expected to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Tuesday as Democrats move ahead with their economic agenda.
The chamber will next move to pass a budget resolution that would allow Democrats to approve their $3.5 trillion spending bill without Republican votes.
The House is awaiting Senate approval of both plans.
The Senate is set to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan Tuesday, a huge step for Democrats as they try to push President Joe Biden's sweeping economic agenda through Congress.
The legislation, which includes $550 billion in new funding for transportation, broadband and utilities, is expected to get through with Democratic and Republican votes. After its passage, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to turn to a budget resolution that would allow Democrats to approve what they see as a complementary $3.5 trillion spending plan without Republican votes.
"Today, the Senate takes a decades overdue step to revitalize America's infrastructure and give our workers, our businesses, our economy, the tools to succeed in the 21st century," Schumer said Tuesday ahead of the final vote.
The chamber is expected to vote on the bill's passage after 11 a.m. ET.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has stressed she will not take up the infrastructure bill or Democrats' separate proposal to expand the social safety net until the Senate passes both of them. The House does not return from recess until Sept. 20.
It could take months for Congress to pass both measures.
The bill's passage will cap a months-long slog for the White House and both parties in Congress to forge a plan to refresh American roads, railways, public transit, water systems, power grids and broadband. Congress for years failed to agree on a comprehensive infrastructure plan, which supporters in both parties say will boost the economy and create jobs.
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