Jun 15, 2021 - Politics & Policy
Schumer to begin budget reconciliation process on Wednesday
Alayna Treene, author of Sneak Peek
Bloomberg / Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to formally trigger the budget reconciliation process on Wednesday, setting Democrats up to ram the White House's American Jobs and Family Plans through the Senate via a simple majority vote in July.
Why it matters: Announcing this strategy now could be dangerous to the group of 20 bipartisan lawmakers trying to hash out a deal on the "hard" infrastructure portion of President Biden's package.
Some of the Republicans in the group may be less keen on continuing negotiations knowing they plan to force the more progressive parts of Biden's plan through a partisan process regardless of a deal.
It will also be harder to convince GOP senators on the outside to get on board with a potential compromise.
Driving the news: Schumer will convene a meeting Wednesday with all 11 Democratic members of the Senate Budget Committee and will urge them to have the budget resolution — what he's labeling a "Unity Budget" — ready to be presented to the conference in early July.
He hopes to pass it by the end of the month.
Schumer said he also plans to bring a scaled-down infrastructure package to the Senate floor in July under regular order.
Details: The resolution is expected to include clean energy tax incentives, clean vehicle rebates and money for farmers and manufacturers to put toward energy-saving measures, among other provisions, a senior Democratic aide said.
Biden's Family Plan — which includes increased childcare, expanded health care, free community college, and universal Pre-K — will also be in it.
"Schumer will say that the Families plan proposal from the President is essential to the Resolution, will not be supported by Republicans, and must be robustly funded in Reconciliation,"
Our thought bubble: The aide's comments, which specifically mention the climate provisions, come after multiple Senate Democrats have recently insisted they will not support an infrastructure package that lacks aggressive measures to cut carbon emissions.
Go deeper: Biden's Plan B could be a bust