As Biden Aims To Pass 2 Big Bills, Things Are About To Get Really Complicated
In the days and weeks just ahead, the elected leaders of our federal government will perform a series of ritual dances that few Americans will understand.
You may turn away with a dismissive gesture or a rolling of the eyes. But these seemingly arcane exercises will, in fact, represent â and may even resolve â real conflicts over national issues of enormous importance.
At stake are the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, trillions more in a spending plan for the next decade and even the degree of difficulty citizens will encounter when next they try to vote. The outcome will be a turning point for the Biden administration's first year in office and may have a powerful influence on the midterm elections looming in 2022.
Profoundly important as all these substantive matters are, much of the impending day-to-day debate and media coverage will use a kind of procedural and political code.
There will be much talk of the "Byrd Rule," mentions of a "carve-out" and possibly a "nuclear option."
Bear with us, because it's all about stuff that makes a difference.
The filibuster
Most of the focus will be on the
