President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are on the cusp of one of the biggest and most improbable victories of recent political memory -- a massive investment in infrastructure, social, environmental programs and more designed to validate their theory of governance and rebuild the economy as the nation emerges from the pandemic.
They are also at risk of losing everything. That goes for upcoming votes in Congress, as well as their narrow majorities in both the House and Senate.
Tuesday's Senate vote marked a sweeping bipartisan victory for Biden and his party that belies broader political realities. Nineteen Republican senators -- representing states as red as Idaho, Mississippi, Kentucky and Alaska -- joined all 50 Democrats in approving some $1 trillion in spending on roads, bridges, broadband and power-grid upgrades that would mark the largest such federal investments in decades.
"After years and years of 'infrastructure week,' we're on the cusp of an infrastructure decade that will truly transform America," Biden said at the White House Tuesday.
But the package will go nowhere in the House unless or until a far larger $3.5 trillion social-spending vehicle -- being referred to as "human infrastructure" by some Democrats -- also moves forward. That's not because of Republicans but because of Democrats, under the standard put forward by progressives and endorsed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The process made an initial advancement when the Senate passed the budget resolution early Wednesday morning, but there are still countless details to come.
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