Budget reconciliation or bust: examining Congress’ legislative agenda this fall

Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill are continuing full steam ahead on a robust legislative agenda that – if successful – could see many of President Biden’s key domestic policy objectives pass into law. After weeks of contentious intra-party debate, House Democratic leadership have announced that a vote on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill will occur on September 27th – although this could slip until later in the week. Meanwhile, lawmakers are furiously working to cobble together the text of the massive $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.

The progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Party are at odds as to whether to move these two bills forward together or to move the infrastructure bill first and allow more time to negotiate the budget reconciliation package. These tensions could risk derailing both measures. In the midst of these debates, Congress is also facing two major deadlines: government funding expires on September 30th and the US risks defaulting on its debt in October if the debt ceiling isn’t raised or suspended. 

On September 29th, our team of US policy experts offered their thoughts on policymakers’ progress on these key legislative agenda items. We considered:

• The outcome of the vote on the bipartisan infrastructure package and what it means for President Bidens legislative agenda.
   
• What is likely to be included and excluded from the proposed $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package as House Democrats negotiate with their more moderate Senate counterparts.  
• What the legislative agenda this fall means for Democrats as they head into 2022 midterm elections and try to maintain control of the House and Senate.