WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers’ most consequential battle this year over President Joe Biden’s expansive domestic agenda will snake through a legislative maze that’s eye-rolling even by Congress’ standards.
In a Capitol where procedures can be exasperating for outsiders to grasp on a good day, Democrats have concocted an elaborate choreography to fulfill Biden’s multitrillion-dollar plans for supercharging federal infrastructure, address climate change and boost social programs.
Their aim is to make the most of their control of Congress and the White House for the first time since 2010. With paper-thin House and Senate majorities, here’s a road map to how they hope to pull it off:
TWO TRACKS
Democrats are stuffing their priorities into two separate bills, which lawmakers hope to finance by raising new revenue.
One measure would include around $1 trillion for highway, water systems and other public works projects. Around $600 billion is new spending, the rest an extension of existing programs. Democrats and Republicans have negotiated for weeks in hopes of reaching compromise, and an early procedural vote on this measure could occur this week.
The other would spend $3.5 trillion over a decade for a sprawling grab bag of social and climate change programs. It faces likely unanimous opposition from Republicans, who complain it is…
