After weeks of negotiation, Senate Democrats reached an agreement Tuesday night on a $3.5 trillion infrastructure budget plan.
The proposal would, in part, expand Medicare and fund climate change initiatives.
Sen.
Bernie Sanders (I-VT), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, called the package ‘transformative’ and said it will ‘address long neglected problems of the working families in this country.’ The $3.5 trillion package would be in addition to the bipartisan $579 billion infrastructure deal reached in June and backed by President Joe Biden.
Democrats hope to pass the heftier bill via reconciliation, a process that requires only 51 votes in the Senate.
This would allow the bill to be passed without any Republican support if every Senate Democrat votes in favor of the plan.
Sanders said he will continue to push for a $6 trillion plan, but acknowledged, at ‘the end of the day we’re going to accomplish something very significant.’