Senate Democrats Begin $3.5 Trillion Push for ‘Big, Bold’ Social Change

A Senate budget blueprint, which Democrats hope to pass this week, would ease passage of legislation that would mark the biggest expansion of the social safety net in nearly 60 years.

WASHINGTON — Democrats formally began their push on Monday for the most significant expansion of the nation’s social safety net since the Great Society of the 1960s, unveiling a budget blueprint that would spend $3.5 trillion on health care, child and elder care, education and climate change. The budget resolution, which Senate Democrats hope to pass by the end of this week, would allow the caucus to piece together social policy legislation this fall, paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy, large inheritances and corporations. Should all 50 senators who caucus with Democrats hold together, the measure could pass the Senate without a Republican vote, nullifying the filibuster threat. Democrats plan to take up the measure as soon as the Senate approves a separate $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill as early as Tuesday morning. Together, the measures could secure virtually all of President Biden’s $4 trillion economic agenda, rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges, rail lines, water systems and electricity grid while expanding public education, social welfare and health care — and remaking the federal tax code.