Securing the Senate vote before the August recess gives the administration — and Democrats back in their districts — the ability to assert that their audacious domestic agenda is on track. Not a single Republican joined the chamber’s 50 Democrats in voting to begin debate on the budget bill. Vice President Kamala Harris discusses the infrastructure bill’s approval. The strategy is also an effort to maintain some leverage over moderate Democratic senators, who are invested in the bipartisan bill, in the hopes of preventing them from watering down the larger package. Asked about the tricky legislative maneuvering required to pass both bills, Biden expressed optimism that the Senate would eventually pass “a significant portion, if not all” of the proposed budget bill.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 10, 2021 19:46 UTC