One For the Road

And the rails.  And the utilities.  And a whole lot of other things.

Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer is ready to have a procedural Senate vote to continue work on the massive bipartisan infrastructure bill amounting to $1.2 trillion so that it can be passed in tandem with the Democratic-only $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill to expand infrastructure spending to child care, Medicare, and clean-energy programs.  The vote is scheduled for Wednesday,

Can he pull it off?  Republicans are grousing about the rushing of a bill that hasn't been written yet beyond the outline, with the funding still murky.  But it's a safe bet that they'll stay on board in order to help the GOP have something to brag about in the 2022 midterms.  Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, has made a couple of concessions to get the bill through while keeping a close eye on his own priorities. And as Democrats negotiate amongst themselves on how to pay for the reconciliation package, Schumer is making sure that he keeps everyone on the same page, just as he did with the COVID relief bill.  So you might say I'm cautiously optimistic.

Schumer has been preparing for something like this for his entire Senate tenure.  If he succeeds at this infrastructure gambit, he could end up being the most effective Senate Democratic majority leader since Lyndon Johnson.