What happens next as Democrats try to pass infrastructure, budget

WASHINGTON — House Democrats just patched up a party fracture to take a critical step forward with a mammoth economic agenda.

But the path ahead could get trickier as party leaders try to thread a legislative needle to pass more than $4 trillion in new spending.

In the coming weeks, Democrats aim to approve a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan and up to $3.5 trillion in investments in social programs. Passing both will require a heavy lift, as leaders will need to satisfy competing demands of centrists wary of spending and progressives who want to reimagine government’s role in American households.

The House is leaving Washington until Sept. 20 after taking key steps toward pushing through the sprawling economic plans. The chamber on Tuesday approved a $3.5 trillion budget resolution and advanced the infrastructure bill, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., promised centrist Democrats to take up the bipartisan plan by Sept. 27.

The Senate already passed the infrastructure legislation, so a final House vote would send it to Biden’s desk for his signature.

Now that both chambers have passed the budget measure, Democrats can move without Republicans to push through their spending plan via reconciliation. Party leaders want committees to write their pieces of the bill by Sept. 15 before budget committees package them into one massive measure that can move through Congress. Committees could start marking up legislation in early September.

Party leaders face a challenge in coming up with a bill that will satisfy centrists who want to trim back the $3.5 trillion price tag and progressives who consider it the minimum Congress should spend. As one defection in the Senate — and four in the House — would sink legislation, Democrats have to satisfy a diverse range of views to pass their agenda.

“We write a bill with the Senate because it’s no use doing a bill that’s not going to pass the Senate, in the interest of getting things done,” Pelosi told reporters on Wednesday.

Given the magnitude of the legislation, passing it quickly could prove difficult. To appease congressional progressives who have prioritized passage of the budget bill, Democrats could move to pass both proposals at about the same time.

While Pelosi gave a Sept. 27 target date to approve the infrastructure plan, the commitment is not binding. Still, she noted Wednesday that Congress needs to pass the bill before surface transportation spending authorization expires Sept. 30.

“We have long had an eye to having the infrastructure bill on the President’s desk by the October 1, the effective date of the legislation,” she wrote…